Mass Effect: The Reasons We Fight
by OrderlyAnarchist
Summary: Suffocating in the space above Alchera, Commander John Shepard had only one regret. Now, with the galaxy in danger again, he's been given a chance to right that wrong. Details key ME2 moments in the relationship between Tali and Shepard. Rated for blood and violence.  Harsh language later in story.
1. Chapter One: Reunion

_Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you my latest story, "A Reason to Fight." The story predominately focuses on Tali and Shepard's relationship throughout Mass Effect 2, although it will probably lead to ME3 speculation revolving around in scenes I deem important to their relationship (the retaking of Rannoch etc.) However, each and every scene will be re-imagined to create a new experience. Now before you start reading I would recommend that you go read my one-shot "One Last Goodbye," as this story is heavily based off that scene, and some events will not make sense if you haven't read it. The link is just below. Anyway, enjoy!_

_Oh, and just a note to all you action lovers. There will be fight scenes. Don't worry._

_Link to "One Last Goodbye:" __.net/s/7274885/1/Mass_Effect_One_Last_Goodbye__ (Make sure you use the link guys, for some reason it doesn't show up when you search it)_

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><p>Commander John Shepard, Lion of Elysium, hero of the citadel, and saviour of the council. He was the galaxy's hero. With a reputation for surviving everything the galaxy through at him it was no surprise that many regarded him as almost immortal. So when he was killed in action during a surprise attack on his ship the Normandy, it was a tragic, and for many unbelievable, event. Rumors, aided by the Alliance's inability to recover a body, spread throughout the galaxy. Even now, after two years, people still wondered exactly what had happened to their hero. As it turned out, his body was sitting in a Kodiak transport shuttle, very much alive, and flying off to investigate a remote human colony in the terminus systems.<p>

"We're just a few minutes out from Freedom's progress," Jacob announced.

"Great, I just want to get down there, see what happened, and get off."

"Is something wrong commander?" the young operative asked him.

"Jacob, I've been gone two years. I have no idea what state the galaxy is in; I don't even know where my old team is. It just feels wrong, going on a mission without them."

Before Jacob could answer, Miranda Lawson cut in, her voice sharp. "Most people don't get the luxury of being _resurrected_ Commander. Don't blame us for you being gone two years. You could've been gone a lot longer."

Shepard let out a long sigh. The Cerberus officer could be a real pain sometimes. "Look Miranda, I'm not blaming you or Cerberus. I'm very grateful for what you did and I'm going to do the best I can here, I just wish I knew where my old team is. We went through a lot together and they deserve to know that I'm alive. There's someone in particular I need to talk to."

The woman's expression softened; obviously satisfied that he appreciated her efforts in bringing him back. "When we get back to the station I'll look for info on your old team. The Illusive man probably has some information on them as well. I'm sure he'd be willing to help you out."

"I'm sure he would," Shepard replied, his smile concealing his dislike of Cerberus' 'Illusive' leader. The man was trying to help humanity and was one of the few people who understood the threat of the Reapers, but he always tried to achieve his goals at the expense of the other races. Something Shepard had no tolerance for. Unfortunately, the man was the only person with both the resources and the will necessary to do what was needed, so Shepard was forced, begrudgingly, to work with him. He looked back at Jacob, who was piloting the shuttle. "Status?"

"We've just arrived at the colony, Commander. I'm taking the shuttle down now."

"Good. Everyone check their weapons, we don't know what we're going to find down there. For all we know, the people responsible for the disappearing colonies could still be around.

Miranda spoke up again. "I doubt that commander. We've had ships on to the scene sooner than this, and we still didn't find anything."

"Still, it's always best to be wary." He felt the shuttle lurch as it reached the planets surface. "Everyone ready?"

"We're all good commander."

"Excellent. Remember, we're looking for anything that can give us a clue to what happened here. Helping survivors is our first priority, although I doubt we'll find anyone." He hopped out of the shuttle and scanned the area. "Landing zone's clear. Let's go."

* * *

><p>Commander, I'm detecting faint heat signatures coming from that building." Miranda told him. "It looks like there might be people inside." Shepard and his squad had gotten more than they'd bargained for when they landed on the colony. Whoever had abducted the colony was long gone, but someone had reprogrammed the security drones and mechs to attack them. Fortunately, LOKI mechs were no match for trained soldiers, and it hadn't taken his team long to blast through the resistance.<p>

"Okay, I'm going to bypass the door. Keep your weapons ready, but don't fire unless I give the word. They could be survivors. They might know what happened here." He brought up his omni-tool, and attempted to hack his way in. It was immediately apparent to him that this wasn't a standard house lock. It had been put in place very recently, and was much more complex than the previous locks he had bypassed. He breathed a sigh of relief as he connected the last two circuits. _If only Tali were here... She could've broken that in seconds._ He moved up to the door, and motioned for Miranda and Jacob to fall in place behind him. He pulled out his shotgun, and opened the door.

* * *

><p>Shepard had entered the pre-made building expecting a lot of things. He had not expected a quarian strike team.<p>

"Cerberus!" one of the quarians exclaimed, disgust evident in his voice. "Stop right there!"

_Why the hell is there a team of quarians down here?_ He was about to speak up when a familiar voice cut him off.

"Prazza, you said you'd let me handle this!"

_No, it can't be! Why would she be down here? But... no. I could never forget that voice. _"Tali?"

"Shepard? How? What... What did Cerberus do to you?"

"Tali, it's really me. Cerberus, they... they brought me back."

"No! That's... That's not possible! I... I was at your funeral and everything!" She was sobbing now.

"Tali, did you get that message I sent you? The one I sent when the Normandy was destroyed? Did the information help you with completing your pilgrimage?"

"I- Keelah! It really is you! You're... You're back!" Before Shepard could respond, she wrapped her arms around him in a deep hug. She glanced back at the team of quarians behind her. "Put your weapons down. This... This is definitely Commander Shepard."

"You know, you didn't answer my question," Shepard pointed out, attempting to lighten the mood.

"It did. Those credits were a huge help to the fleet. And that data... it might be the key to taking back our homeworld. My father's probably studying it as we speak."

Shepard noticed a hint of sadness in her voice as she mentioned her father, but before he could ask her about its origins he was interrupted by Prazza, his rifle still trained on Shepard's head.

"I don't think it's wise to be showing affection to a human, let alone a member of Cerberus," the quarian remarked, not bothering to conceal his disdain.

"Prazza, I told you to stand down. Now put away that rifle before I overload it and make it explode in your hands! The 'human,' is Commander Shepard, one of the only friends I've ever had in this galaxy. After working with you, I think I've earned the right to give an old friend a hug. As for why he's working with Cerberus... well maybe he could explain that?"

Shepard let out a small sigh. He didn't like thinking about the events leading to his affiliation with Cerberus. "After the destruction of the Normandy I was... well... let's just say that I didn't come out in great shape. Cerberus spent billions of credits rebuilding me so I could investigate the disappearances of human colonies. Apparently nobody else was doing anything about it." Before he could continue, Prazza interrupted.

"Impossible, nobody would spend that many credits to bring back one person." Before he could reply, Tali came to his defense.

"You haven't seen Shepard in action, Prazza. I'd tell you how insignificant you are compared to him, but I wouldn't want to hurt your pride. Needless to say, it was money well spent."

Before Prazza could speak up again, Shepard changed the subject. He was tired of listening to the arrogant quarian. "Well, we better get down to business, what's a quarian strike team doing on a remote human colony?"

"We're looking for a young quarian named Veetor," Tali replied. "He came here on his pilgrimage."

"What was he doing on a remote human colony?" Shepard inquired. "Isn't that a strange place to go for your pilgrimage?"

"Veetor was always... nervous... in crowds," Tali explained. "Quarians can choose where they go on pilgrimage, and he like the idea of helping out a small settlement."

"She means that he's unstable," Prazza added. "Combine that with open air exposure and damage to his suits CO2 scrubbers and he's probably delirious."

"Do you know where he is now?" Shepard asked her.

"When he saw our shuttle land, he hid in a warehouse on the far side of the down. I think he also reprogrammed the mechs to attack anything that moves."

Shepard grinned. "Well it seems like we better work together then. Veetor's the only one who can help us figure out what happened here."

"Good idea. You take your team through the center of the village and to the warehouse; I'll take my squad around the outskirts of the colony. We'll draw off the drones and clear you a path."

Before Shepard could acknowledge her, Prazza cut him off. The young quarian was becoming very annoying. "We're working with Cerberus now?" It was obvious that the man harboured a deep hatred for the pro-human organization. _Knowing Cerberus, it's probably for a good reason. I better find out exactly what happened before someone starts shooting._

"Okay, I've been gone for two years. What the hell did Cerberus do this time?"

"They infiltrated our fleet, killed our people, and blew up one of our ships."

Before Shepard could say anything, Miranda spoke up. "That's not how I would describe it. Either way, it was nothing personal."

"Yes," Shepard replied sarcastically. "I'm sure there was a perfectly good reason for blowing up what was probably a civilian vessel. You realize that committing acts of terrorism isn't a great way to earn my trust, right?"

"It was necessary," the woman replied, glaring at him.

"Either way, we'll argue about who killed who later. Right now, we need to go find Veetor. Keep in radio contact, a few mechs shouldn't be that hard to take down." He glanced back at the two Cerberus operatives behind him. "Let's move."

Just as they were about to exit the building, he heard Tali speak up again. "Shepard."

"Yes?"

"It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back," he replied with a grin.

* * *

><p>Using the minimap provided by his helmets HUD, Shepard led his three-man strike team through the center of the village. Every so often a group of mechs or drones would engage them, but the skirmishes only lasted for seconds, the machines being no match for a team as skilled as his. He checked his map again; looking to see how far away they were from the warehouse Veetor had decided to hole up in. <em>Only a kilometer or so left to go... this almost seems too easy.<em> As if on cue, he heard Tali's frantic voice on the radio.

"Shepard! Prazza betrayed me! He's taken the rest of the squad with him, and they're determined to find Veetor and take him away before you find him!"

_Why can't anything ever be easy? _he asked himself, letting out a long sigh."Are you okay? He didn't hurt you did he?"

"No. The spineless bosh'tet didn't want to hurt an Admiral's daughter. They locked me in one of the buildings, but it only took me a few seconds to hack the door open."

Shepard breathed a sigh of relief. _If that bastard had hurt Tali... _

"Commander?" Miranda's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Prazza," he began, spitting the name out, "locked Tali in one of the buildings and took control of her squad. They're going to try and get Veetor off world before we can talk to him. If that happens, we may never find out what happened here. Fortunately, the warehouse is only a kilometer or so away. If we get there first, the mission will still be successful. Now let's move!"

Fate must have been in a good mood for the moment, because there weren't any mechs between his team and the warehouse, and they were able to reach the warehouse entrance with no delays. But as they approached the warehouse door, Tali's frantic voice appeared on the radio again.

"Shepard! Prazza got to the warehouse, but Veetor reprogrammed a heavy mech! It's tearing my squad apart!"

"We're at the warehouse now. Can you open the door from your side?"

"Yes," Tali replied. "Just give me a moment." A few seconds passed before a loud groaning sound announced that the door was opening. He stormed into the warehouse, arriving just in time to see three quarians sprint out of a large hallway. Right behind them was the towering YMIR heavy assault mech. It raised the large machine gun attached to its right arm, and one of the quarians convulsed as his body was riddled with bullets. Satisfied that the quarian was dead, the mech searched for a new target. The two quarians still running caught its attention. It raised its left arm, aiming the attached missile launcher at the fleeing soldiers. The lead quarian noticed the threat first. He quickly dived behind a large crate, safe from the deadly weapons equipped on the machine. The second quarian wasn't as lucky. The mech fired, and the rocket detonated a small distance behind her, throwing her to the ground, injured but alive... for now. The heavy mech had armed another rocket, determined to finish the job.

_Shit!_ Shepard thought to himself, as he watched the mech take aim at the helpless quarian. Without thinking, he focused his energy, and released a glowing ball of biotic energy. It struck the quarian and pulled her towards him, just out of the blast radius of the exploding rocket. As her floating body passed over him, he pulled her down into cover beside him, quickly checking her for any wounds. She was unconscious, and it looked like her suit might have a few ruptures, but he didn't see any blood. As he finished his scan, he heard Jacob speak up from behind him.

"She gonna make it, Commander?" The young operative actually seemed worried for her health.

_Well he didn't seem like a typical Cerberus member. And he said he only joined Cerberus because the Alliance wasn't doing anything about the colonies. Maybe they're not all bad... _"Her suit's ruptured in a few places, but none of the shrapnel actually pierced her skin. As long as she's not left out here too long she should be fine.

"Good to hear Commander. You know, we're not all as pro-human as some would like to believe."

"From what I've seen, I believe that you're not. As for the rest of Cerberus..." He shook his head. "Never mind that. It won't matter if we don't take down this mech. Jacob, I want you to keep a constant stream of fire on that thing. Miranda, I want you to have an overload ready. When I give the order, take that things shields down."

"And what will you be doing?" Miranda asked him.

"What I always do," he cryptically replied.

* * *

><p>Tali watched as the last remnant of her team was hunted down by the heavy mech. She saw Prazza convulse as the heavy bullets from the mechs machine gun lacerated his body. <em>Another one gone... <em>she thought to herself, looking away from the carnage. She had never lost this many troops before. She knew it wasn't her fault. Prazza had taken the troops, and rushed headfirst into a YMIR heavy mech, something her team was not equipped to fight. It wasn't her fault, but it still felt like it.

The sound of an explosion brought her back to the battle. One of her troops was safely behind cover. The other was lying on the ground, unconscious, with a rocket launcher aimed at her. She cringed as the rocket streaked towards the limp soldier, and looked away as the missile exploded. After a few seconds, she convinced her body to look back, expecting to see the bloody remains of one of her troops. Instead, the quarian soldier was floating through the air, unharmed and covered in a glowing blue veil, towards a large pile of shipping crates. _Shepard! _she realized._ Even after they had turned their backs on him, he still saved them. _Suddenly, the rapid firing of a shotgun interrupted her thoughts. She activated her omni-tool, and activated the combat drone program, watching as the glowing ball of pink and purple sparked into existence. "Well Chiktikka, I think they might need our help."

* * *

><p>Shepard grinned as he silently crept along the wall of the warehouse. The mechs rudimentary combat intelligence system caused it to target whomever was firing at it. In this case, it was Jacob. As long as Jacob kept up a steady stream of fire, the mech wouldn't even notice the spectre creeping down the side of the warehouse. Once he was a suitable distance behind the machine, he dashed towards it, sneaking up behind the heavy mech. When he was right behind it, he would give the order for Miranda to overload its shields. When the shields were down, he would hop on its back, and empty a clip of his shotgun into the unsuspecting machines head. He was about to signal Miranda when he heard something horrifying. Silence. Jacob was no longer firing.<p>

"Out of clips!" The young operatives voice echoed across the warehouse.

No longer under attack, the giant mechs motion sensors activated, and it turned to face the human behind it. Shepard dived to the right, knowing it wouldn't be enough to avoid the rocket that was surely coming. He hit the ground, and waited for the inevitable explosion. After a few seconds of waiting, Shepard realized that the rocket wasn't coming. He rolled onto his back, expecting to see a heavy chain gun pointed his way. Instead, a strange sight greeted him. A glowing purple orb was circling the YMIR, occasionally zapping it with a bolt of electricity. The lumbering mech was too slow to catch it, and had resorted to slowly spinning in around in circles in an attempt to crush the pest. Shepard didn't miss his chance.

"Miranda! He shouted. "Overload, now!"

A loud crack reverberated through the building, informing him of Miranda's success. Without pausing, He leaped onto the back of the overloaded mech, and pulled out his shotgun. Holding the weapon in one hand, he fired three shots into the back of the machines head. His thermal clip spent, Shepard leaped off the mech, and sprinted away from the metallic corpse. The subsequent explosion informed him that the mech was down for the count. The only thing left to do was find Veetor. He looked around the warehouse, noticing the single pre-made building sitting near the end of the warehouse. Entering the building, he first noticed the many TV monitors lining the walls. Then he saw Veetor. The quarian was talking to himself frantically, as if he was trying to assure himself that he was still there.

"Monsters," he muttered. "They'll find me. Can't let them find me. Can't let them take me away like the others."

"Veetor?" Shepard asked, trying to get the young quarians attention, to no effect. The young quarians attention was focused on the TV screens lining the walls.

Without thinking, he waved his omni-tool, disabling the monitors. As the screens went dark, the quarian stood up, turning towards him. "You're human," the quarian exclaimed, surprise evident in his voice. "How did you hide?"

"I didn't hide."

"Then… how did you survive?"

"Listen Veetor, I'm not a survivor. I just got here. I'm trying to find out what happened here. Can you help me?"

"The monsters, they took everyone. But I saw, I saw them all." He reactivated the television screens, and a recording played. It showed a group of strange creatures carrying away a frozen human.

"Collectors!" he heard someone gasp behind him. Miranda and Jacob must have come in when he was talking to Veetor.

"Collectors?" he asked the Cerberus officer.

"A race from beyond the Omega-4 relay. They're so rarely seen that most believe they're a myth. The usually act through intermediaries, so the fact that they're out her in force means that something huge must be happening."

"They took everyone," Veetor moaned. "I hid, but they'll be back. No one escapes!"

"We've got what we need," Miranda said. "Grab the Quarian and we'll get out of here."

Before he could say anything someone else spoke up. "You can't just take him!" It was Tali. "He's hurt, and needs medical attention, not interrogation!"

"We can assure you that Veetor will be returned unharmed," Jacob told her.

_I wonder if he's just saying that, or if he's actually naive enough to believe it._

"Shepard, I trusted you! You can't just let them take him!" The fire had left Tali's voice, replaced with a quiet pleading tone

He glanced over at Tali, staring into her opaque visor. _Even if I take Veetor, she won't try and stop me, _Shepard realized with a start. _Does she really trust me that much? _Shepard wasn't sure if she did or not, but he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize it. _Not that I would've given Veetor to Cerberus anyway… _ Before any more arguments could be made, he spoke up, announcing his decision. "Veetor goes with Tali. He's injured, and he needs medical help from the fleet."

"But Shepard!" Miranda began to protest.

"Miranda, I know about the experiments Cerberus has performed. I met Corporal Toombs, I saw that colony you turned into husks, and I remember your work with the Thorian Creepers. I'm sure there are many more I don't remember or know nothing about, but I'll be damned if I give you a sick and distraught quarian to test torture techniques on. We'll take his omni-tool, and I think I can trust Tali to give us any info that comes up during his debriefing." Now, I'd appreciate it if you two could wait for me over at the shuttle. Tali and I have some catching up to do."

"Yes sir." Jacob replied, seemingly fine with the way things had turned out. Miranda however, seemed less than happy. She followed his orders without question though, something Shepard was grateful for. When the Cerberus operatives were gone, he turned to Tali.

"How about we go take Veetor to your shuttle. We can talk a bit on the way there."

"I'd like that. Also, thanks for saving my troops. They're both in the shuttle right now. After they tried to take Veetor like that, I'm surprise you were willing to help them at all."

"It's not their fault, not really. I did appear to be affiliated with Cerberus. Just consider it thanks for saving me from that mech. That drone's new isn't it?"

"Yes it is," she answered, pausing for a moment before continuing. "Shepard, I know that my combat drone wasn't the first thing on your mind when you said you wanted to catch up."

"You're right. I just… I wanted to let you know what happened on the Normandy, to tell you exactly why I've been gone for two years." As he finished speaking, Tali broke into tears, losing all restraint.

"Keelah, Shepard! I don't care why you were gone! I want to know why you didn't let me know! You could've came to see me, or at least sent some sort of message! Something to tell me that you were still alive! I… I thought you were dead!"

"Tali... I was dead."

"That's not a good enough reas- what? What do you mean dead? You... You're standing right here!"

"Tali, when the Normandy exploded... I died. I was thrown into space, with a few minutes of air left. After I sent you that message, I... ran out. Ran out of air... and died."

This time Tali didn't shout. "Then... Then how are you here now?" she asked him, anger no longer apparent in her voice.

"Cerberus. They spent billions bringing me back exactly as I was before. It took two years and twelve days, and when they finished... I was alive again. I've got a lot of cybernetics in me, but I'm the same Shepard I always was."

"How do you know that? They could be controlling you or something."

"If they were doing that, then Veetor wouldn't be here with us right now, would he? Trust me, I'm the same me I was before." He paused for a second, before continuing, his voice quieter. "The same me who sent that message to you in his last moments. The same me who meant every word he spoke in that message."

It didn't take Tali long to realize what Shepard was trying to say her. Even after two years, he still had feelings for… for her. She wanted to say something, anything, but instead she just let Shepard continue speaking.

"The same me who would've given anything to hear a response to that message," Shepard finished, his voice so low it was barely audible.

"I... when you sent me that message, I wanted so badly to tell you I felt the same way. To tell you that I loved you. But it's been two years. There's never been anyone else, and I'm not sure if there ever will be, but I just... I need time to sort things out. I thought you were dead for two years, and then you just… appeared, no more dead than the first time I met you. There's nothing more I want then to just be able to say that I want to be with you forever, but it's not that easy. It's been a long time and I need to think things through." She waited for a response. Getting none, she tried to lighten the mood. "I guess after all those years fighting beside you, I should've figured out that you were pretty much immortal."

"Tali, I... I understand, but I want you to know, my feelings for you haven't diminished. The two years I was gone, I feel like they never happened. I feel like I sent you that message yesterday. If you need time to sort things out, I understand. I... I guess it is hard to believe." They were both silent for a while. Eventually, the quarian shuttle came into view.

"Thanks for everything Shepard. I... I'll think about everything we talked about. Just give me some time."

"Tali, I have one last thing I need to ask you."

"Yes?"

"I'm on a new mission, and it's not going to be easy. Jacob and Miranda are both skilled, but they work for Cerberus, and I need people I can trust. Would you be willing to come with us? It'd be just like old times," he added with a smile.

"Shepard, there's nothing more I'd rather do, but I can't, not now. I've got a mission with the fleet, one that can't be trusted with anyone else."

"I... I see." As he turned to walk away, Tali spoke up one last time.

"After the mission, I'm putting in a transfer request. After all I've done, I think they'll allow me to serve on the ship of my former captain. What kind of ship is it going to be, anyway?"

Shepard smiled, noticing her excitement at the idea of his new ship. "To be honest with you, I haven't seen it yet. Cerberus was putting the finishing touches on it when I came down here, but from what I've heard from Jacob, they've built an upgraded version of the Normandy."

"An improvement? But the Normandy was so advanced!"

"Excited are we?" Shepard asked her with a smile. "Tell you what, I promise that as soon as I see the ship, I'll send you a detailed message telling you everything you need to know about it. Think that will tide you over until they approve your transfer request?"

"Definitely," she said, her voice finally upbeat again. After everything she'd been through today, Shepard was just glad to see her happy.

"Goodbye Tali. I look forward to hearing about the approval of you transfer request."

"I'll see you later Shepard, and remember to send that message when you see your ship!"

Shepard watched as Tali and Veetor entered the shuttle. He watched as the shuttle took off, and for the first time in over two years, Commander John Shepard was happy.

* * *

><p><em>R&amp;R! Every bit of (constructive) criticism helps me get better!<em>


	2. Chapter Two: Bridging the Gap

_Here comes Chapter Two! I know it's not as long as the first chapter but I really wanted to get an update out. Part 2 of this chapter will be coming out soon. _

_I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Iron Maiden and Rush, for providing awesome music to listen to whenever I hit a wall. _

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>"Y'know Tali, I don't think I've ever seen you this happy before. I guess that means that your meeting with the admiralty board went well?"<p>

"They were upset about the loss of troops, happy I got Veetor back, and quick to tell me where I'd be going next," Tali told the quarian beside her. "Just like every other time I talk to them."

"Well I'm glad nothing bad happened, but that still doesn't explain why you're so happy. Something good had to have happened in there."

"Tasha, it wasn't the meeting that put me in a good mood," Tali told her friend. "I guess I'm just excited about seeing him again."

"Seeing who?" Tasha asked, curious.

"John," she stated, as if the answer was obvious.

_Who?_ She knew Tali had mentioned that name before, and it had obviously been important to her. As she wracked her brain, various thoughts flitted through her mind, associating themselves with the name. _Geth, Spectre, human… Shepard!_ Tali was talking about her old pilgrimage captain. _But why did she call him by his first name? And isn't he… dead?" _Not knowing the answers, Tasha gave a mental shrug. Tali would probably answer her questions anyway. "Your old pilgrimage captain?" Tasha asked her, speaking out loud now.

"Yes," Tali answered, her voice soft. "Two years gone, and he's finally back."

_Two years? _"I thought everyone just called him Shepard. I don't think I ever heard of anyone calling him by his first name."

"Tha- That's because n- no one did," Tali stammered, her cheeks suddenly flushing behind her mask. "No one except m- I mean, we're just frien- No, I… It was only on special- Di- I didn't call him by his first name, did I?"

"Uh… yes, you did." Tasha was completely baffled by her friend's sudden change in tone. What had made her so nervous? All _I did was mention her calling him by his first name. Wa- Are they- No, it's none of my business how she feels about her old captain. _"Maybe we should change the subject?" Tasha asked.

"Uh, yes," Tali responded, regaining control. "That's a good idea."

"Okay." _Should I ask her why he was gone? Why he disappeared for two years after reports of his death? No, that's probably a bad idea. M- _her thoughts were cut off by the sound of Tali's voice.

"He really did die," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

"I… what?"

"I know you wanted to ask that, and I'm telling you that he really was dead. It wasn't faked."

"Then how did you uhh, y'know, see him again? If you don't mind me asking."

"Cerberus," Tali responded, her voice so quiet that Tasha had to turn up her audio receptors to pick it up.

"The terrorist organization? Why would they revive your old Captain? And how, for that matter."

"They brought him back to try and stop whoever's been responsible for all the disappearing human colonies of late. As for how… I couldn't answer that. All I know is that it took a lot of time, money, and effort to bring him back. He's not a clone or android, he's the real Shepard."

"And how do you know they're not controlling him?" Tasha asked.

"He saved two of my soldiers, and gave Veetor to us, instead of letting Cerberus take him," Tali explained. "Just watching the way he moved and the way he spoke, it was obvious he was in control. That and the fact that one of the Cerberus people said they _should_ have put a control chip into him when he gave Veetor to us."

"So your old captain is back now?"

"Yes, he's finally back."

"So Commander Shepard is back from the grave, and you just met up with him a little over a day ago. That leaves me with one last question."

"Yes?"

"Why are you still here?" Tasha asked incredulously.

"I… What?"

"Your old captain's back from the grave on another dangerous mission, and probably in need of a skilled team that he can trust. So why in Keelah's name are you on this old ship, and not with him right now?" Tasha asked her, baffled by her friend's presence in front of her. "Did he not want you to join him?"

"I- It's not that!" Tali stammered. "He wanted me to join and it's not like I didn't want to. Keelah knows I wanted to, but the admiralty board needs me for one last mission. Not just a skilled scientist or engineer but me in particular. You and I both know that the welfare of the fleet has been my whole life. I can't leave now, not with a critical mission depending on me. After that… Well I've already filled out the transfer request and hopefully I'll be on Shepard's new ship soon. Which reminds me, he was supposed to send me a message telling me about his new ship soon.

As if on cue, Tali's omni-tool let out a quiet beep, announcing the arrival of a new message. Once she saw the sender name she wasted no time in opening it.

_Hey Tali,_

_I know I promised you a message detailing the new ship (We renamed it the Normandy by the way) but I haven't had time to give it a good look around yet. From the outside it looks just like the old Normandy provided you can ignore the Cerberus logo's they painted all over it. It's pleasantly familiar and Cerberus even managed to recruit a few old friends. Dr. Chakwas is the ships medical officer, and they recruited Joker to fly the ship. Once I've got you in engineering and on the ground team it'll be a little like the good old days._

_Anyway, we just left the citadel after a meeting with Anderson and the rest of the council (who re-instated my spectre status) to go to a planet called Bekenstein. It seems like I'm about to conduct a heist of all things in the home of a galactic crime lord at the request of our newest recruit. Anyway, I hope everything is going well for you on the flotilla. I look forward to hearing back from you soon._

_Sincerely, John Shepard_

She closed the message with a sigh. _I wish I could be there with him…_

* * *

><p>John Shepard wasn't an easily impressed man. He had traveled across the galaxy, seeing all the wonders it had to offer. But at the site of Donovan Hock's collection even he was wowed. Old artifacts, magnificent statues, and even ancient world wonders covered the floor of the huge wall. Glancing to his right he noted that the woman beside him was similarly amazed.<p>

"Is that Michelangelo's David? Kasumi gasped, staring at the ancient Marble statue. "And Lady Liberties head! How did Donovan Hock get a hold of Lady Liberties head?"

"Remember Kasumi, we're here for your greybox, not on vacation. Although I have to admit that this is pretty impressive."

"Of course," she stated hurriedly, the sense of wonder still not leaving her face. "It shouldn't be that hard to find. Just try and find a modern device that doesn't look like a piece of artwork."

"Shouldn't be too hard to find," Shepard remarked, walking into one of the many isles of artifacts. _Look for something that doesn't look like artwork, _Shepard thought to himself as he walked amongst the many priceless artifacts contained within the vault. _We're looking for Kasumi's greybox and then we're getting out of here. _ Keeping those thoughts in his mind, Shepard tried to ignore the art and history around him. However, as he walked among the many statues and sculptures, something different caught his eye. _Hey, what's that? _He thought to himself as he moved to take a closer look.

"I thought we weren't her to sightsee," a voice suddenly spoke out from behind him, only his years of training and experience keeping him from jumping.

"Jesus Kasumi," Shepard began, turning to face the woman who had suddenly appeared behind him. "You have to stop using that cloak to sneak up on me. If I had been anyone else I probably would've hit you, or even shot you. As for your question, the dialect on these tablets looks familiar. I think someone showed it to me once. Do you have any idea what it is?"

She bent over to examine the stone tablets before suddenly exclaiming, "That looks like ancient Khellish!" Seeing Shepard's confused look she elaborated. "It's an old quarian dialect, dating from before the war between the quarians and geth. They probably originate from the quarian's homeworld. They must be ancient."

Now Shepard remembered where he had seen it. He had been talking to Tali in the old Normandy, asking her about quarian culture. He remembered his surprise when he showed a genuine interest in the culture and history of people, and her happiness as she talked about what life was like for a quarian. During one of their conversations she had opened up her omni-tool and shown him some examples of quarian writing. It was very similar to the writing in the tablets in front of him. "So these tablets originate from before the war, when they still had their homeworld?" he asked Kasumi.

"Yes. It's been a long time since quarians wrote in stone."

"If that's the case…" he began, smashing the glass covering the tablets, "then I think you've got one more thing you're taking from this vault."

"You told me you don't approve of stealing," Kasumi pointed out, a sly grin on her face.

"You know what else I don't approve of?" Shepard asked her with a laugh. "Donovan Hock."

"Very true Shep."

"Besides, I know someone who would appreciate this far more than any human could. Artifacts from her homeworld are hard to come by these days."

"Ah, a gift for someone special is it. If that's the case I'll take extra care holding on to them. Couldn't have Tali dumping you now, could we?"

"What! I didn't say- We're just- there's nothing between-" He stopped when he heard Kasumi laughing. _What's the point? _He thought to himself with a sigh. "How did you know?" he asked, expecting a quick answer. Instead he was greeted by a long silence. After a few more seconds of silence Kasumi finally spoke up.

"Uhh… Shepard? I was just poking some fun at you. It was a quarian tablet, and I knew there was a quarian named Tali with you when you chased down Saren. I didn't actually think there was anything between you."

A few more seconds passed, as Shepard realized what he had done. Suddenly Kasumi spoke up again, breaking the silence.

"So…" she began, the sly grin pasted back onto her face, "is there something between you?"

_Did I really just say that? _"I don't_-_" he began to stammer before the grin stuck on Kasumi's face stopped him in his tracks. _ What's the point? She's already figured it out anyway._ Shepard sighed, before admitting defeat to the thief. "Yes there is. Or at least there was before I died… sort of. Neither one of us ever really came forward until a few minutes before I died, and even that was only a message. Now that I'm back… she's still trying to sort her feelings out. "

"Well I wish you the best if luck in winning her back," Kasumi stated, the wide smile still not leaving her face.

_I don't think she understand how serious this is. I don't want this posted all over the extranet, for Tali's sake. _"Kasumi, I've told you something no one else in the galaxy knows aside from Tali. Just… Please keep this a secret. I'm not worried, in fact I'd announce it to the galaxy if I could, but I'm not sure how her people would react and I don't want to do anything that might hurt her."

Changing to a serious tone, Kasumi acknowledged his plea. "Don't worry Shepard. I'll keep it a secret. I might be a thief, but that doesn't mean I announce people secrets to the rest of the galaxy." Noting the seriousness finally evident in her voice Shepard relaxed.

"Thank you Kasumi. Most people would already have it on the extranet."

"No problem Shep. Now, I believe my Greybox is on the pedestal right beside these tablets of yours." She reached over and plucked the small device off the stand, cradling it close to her chest. "We can go now, if you want."

"Lead the way. You know I really didn't expect this to be so…" he was cut off as a giant TV screen flared to life, Donovan Hocks glaring face displayed on the giant monitor. "…Easy…."

"Kasumi!" Hocks voice shouted out of the speakers. "Thank you for showing up to open my greybox. Now if you'll lay down your weapons…" a large door opened up as a dozen Eclipse mercenaries stormed through the entrance. "My men will be happy to escort you out."

_Fuck. _

_I wish Tali was here._

* * *

><p>"Tali," Admiral Han'Gerrel's voice boomed. "As you already know we're sending you to the planet Haestrom to collect info on the strange activity of the systems sun. We've just finalized your escort. 50 migrant fleet marines under the command of Kal'Reegar will accompany you. After the incident on Freedom's Progress we decided that it would be best if someone you know personally led the team to prevent any further incidents."<p>

"Thank you admirals. I hope that the protection is ultimately unnecessary, but it is comforting to know that my team will be trustworthy this time."

"Your ship leaves in 72 hours. Make sure you have everything you need. Keelah'Selai Tali'Zorah."

"Keelah'Selai Admirals."

* * *

><p>The intense firefight over, Shepard strolled over to the burning remains of Donovan Hock's gunship, pleased to note that the man was still alive. <em>I want to do this personally.<em> Pulling him out of the flaming wreckage, Shepard unceremoniously dropped the man on the ground. "Hello Mr. Hock," he said, his tone mocking. "Would you still like to escort us out?"

"Are you always this sarcastic towards those more powerful than you Shepard?" The look on Hock's face showed utter contempt. _Strange given the situation he's in. He must think he has a way out of here._ "I'll get out of prison very quickly. You know that right?"

"Who said anything about prison?" Shepard asked him, aiming the barrel of his predator pistol at the man's head.

"I've studied you Shepard. I know how you act. You've never killed someone in cold blood, not when they were helpless before you. Now how about you let me go and we can forget this ever happened. I'll even let Miss Goto keep her greybox

"In case you haven't noticed, Kasumi already has her greybox. She was also kind enough to forward me information on your various dealings before we arrived. If you think I'll ever let you go you're sadly mistaken."

"So you're going to send me to prison? I'll be out within a year and I'll be sure to devote _all_ my resources to tracking down everyone important to you. And when I find them…" The man was smiling now. _He thinks he's winning me over! Just give me one more reason to blow your head off…_

"There deaths will not be painless."

_Just keep digging your grave…_

"I'll even kill that quarian bitch you said you care for so much, although just being sick enough to love on of them is probably punishment enough."

_Threatening Tali? Big fucking mistake Donovan. _

"With that knowledge in mind, I'm certain that we can come to a mutually beneficial understanding. Don't you agree Shepard?"

"Well it's obvious that I can't send you off to jail…" Shepard watched as the man's face lit up. _Probably thinks he's won, arrogant bastard. _"So I guess the verdict is death by execution." He brought his gun back up, and leveled the barrel with the man's head, grinning as Hock's smile faded, suddenly replaced by an expression of terror.

"But… No!" he protested. "You didn't shoot Fist, and you didn't kill that Helena Blake woman! I studied your habits. You never kill people in cold blood!"

"No I don't," Shepard responded, placing his finger on his weapons trigger. "But nobody else has ever threatened Tali." As he finished his last sentence Hock's eyes bulged, disbelief and terror evident in his expression. His mouth opened, frantic pleas flying from his lips before he was finely silenced by the sharp crack of a heavy pistol. "Goodbye Mr. Hock," Shepard told the lifeless corpse, as he returned his weapon to its waiting holster. With his weapon safely put away, he signaled the Normandy, informing Joker of the mission's success and calling for a shuttle.

"That was pretty cold Shep." He spun around at the sound of the thief's voice.

"Do you disagree with my methods?" He spoke sharper than he had intended, still furious at the threat's Hock had place on those close to him, on Tali.

"He had it coming and I'm glad to see him dead… But it was still pretty cold to just shoot him like that."

Taking a few breaths to calm himself down, he spoke again. "Hock's done a lot of terrible things. You more than anyone else know that." _He also threatened Tali, Shepard thought to himself, anger quickly seeping back into his mind._

"Who are you trying to fool Shep? I know the real reason you shot him. You already told me, remember?"

"Nothing ever get passed you does it Kasumi?" He smiled. The woman's good attitude was finally putting him in a pleasant state of mind.

"Nope. Which reminds me…" She pulled the two quarian tablets out of a small pocket in her cloak. "I still have those tablet you picked up, perfect condition, as promised."

"Can you hold on to them for me until we get on the shuttle? My armour doesn't have any giant pockets."

"No problem Shep." She quickly slid the stone tablets back into the pocket, which was less than a quarter of the size of the tablets Shepard realized. "It's an old Japanese secret," Kasumi told him, apparently noticing the confused look on face.

"Everything about you is a secret Kasumi."

"It has to be. I wouldn't want to lose my aura of mystery would I?"

"Of course not. It would completely ruin that mysterious thief appearance that you never change. God forbid anyone sees what you look like under that hood."

"Keiji did," she told him, her voice suddenly sad and quiet.

"Oh, I'm sorry Kasumi. I didn't mean to-"

"Don't worry Shep, it wasn't your fault. It was his." She pointed at the limp corpse of Donovan Hock, now lying in a pool of it's own blood.

_Keiji… She's spent years tracking down this greybox just so she could say goodbye, all because of that bastard. Maybe I should shoot him again to make sure he's dead? _Suddenly the roar of a Kodiak transport shuttle interrupted his musing. "There's our ride. Kasumi, let's go."

"Roger that Shep!" Without another word he stepped into the shuttle, activating his omni-tool and writing up another message to Tali.

_Hey Tali,_

_That quick heist I told you about turned into an all-out war and a shootout with a gunship. Knowing me, I guess that was to be expected. Things just like blowing up around me. The mission was a success though. Our newest recruit got what they came for, and I was able to pick up a special gift that only a quarian could appreciate. Unfortunately for you, I'm going to be holding on to it for a while. If you want it, you'll have to stop by my ship after your mission to pick it up. _

_Speaking of your mission, I don't believe you ever told be where were you going. It's got to be better than the hellhole I'm going to be stuck in soon. I've never even been to Omega before, and I already know I'm going to end up in a firefight. Oh wait; Kasumi's opening her greybox. I'll have to make sure it doesn't explode or something. Talk to you later._

_Sincerely, John Shepard._

As he tapped the send button on his omni-tool there was only one thought running through his head. _God I miss her._

* * *

><p><em>I know there wasn't much Tali this chapter and I'm terribly sorry about that. I promise that the next chapter will have much more. Thanks to all the people who take the time to read my story. You're continued support keeps me motivated to make this story the best I possible can. <em>

_Oh, and I know I'm not the best writer out there. That's why you guys need to leave reviews and tell me what I can do to make this story better. My English class doesn't start until second semester so you guys are the only one's who can help me out with this._

_Thanks for reading!_

_~Toxic_


	3. Chapter Three: Haestrom

_This is by far, the most I've ever written. Aside from a few parts, I think it's the best I've ever written as well. Don't get used to 10,000+ word chapters though. This was a one-time thing... I think. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and again, I'm sorry for how long I made you all wait. My life has hated me these past few weeks. So... yeah. Read on and enjoy!_

_Oh, and I'd like to thank (for no reason at all) these bands for producing the music that I listened to while writing this chapter:_

_Dream Theater, Rush, Iron Maiden, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, Boss Brass, and Boston. You all make awesome music._

_Mandatory disclaimer that I forgot in the previous two chapters:_

_Mass Effect and all it's characters, locations, technology, and other things relating to its universe are owned by the amazing developers over at Bioware. Give 'em all a round of applause. I, unfortunately, own none of it. I wish I did, but alas, I'm only fifteen and have no interest in a career as a game developer._

* * *

><p>"I wish my friends could see this... I wish Shepard was here." Finishing her log Tali quickly shut off the recording device and looked once more at her surroundings. They had already been on Haestrom, an old quarian colony from before the geth war, for the better part of a week in an attempt to gather data on the system's star. The star, "Dholen," had been displaying all sorts of strange of activity, most notably rapid aging. They had the equipment to scan the stars core, and it would only take a few hours for the devices to do so, but unfortunately the ancestors had other plans. The solar radiation had fried all their scanning equipment and turned what should have been a quick data retrieval assignment into an extended infiltration mission.<p>

_This star should not be acting like this, _Tali told herself. _It's aging faster than a star its age has a right too. Something must be destabilizing it; probably from the inside _she hypothesized. _Once that scanning equipment is back online we'll know for sure. _Unfortunately that wouldn't be for a while yet. A few more days was the projection her team had given her when asked, assuring her that everything would be fine.

_Bosh'tet's, _she inwardly cursed. _Spending over a week in geth controlled space is _not _fine, especially when the sun is busy trying to cook you alive. Why can't they understand that? It seems like every mission I go on is designed to fail._ _If the geth find us I doubt any of us will ever get off this planet alive. _

More thoughts on how wrong the mission had gone poured in, along with assurances that it could still get worse. Emotions piled up, determined to crush their bearer under their weight. _How am I supposed to take care of 50 quarians? I'm not Shepard! _Shepard, the love of her life, waiting for her to bring her team home. His image filled her mind, that winning smile he always flashed washing away her self-doubt. _John._

_Keelah,_ _I need to stop thinking so negatively,_ she scolded herself, shaking her head in a vain attempt to clear her thoughts. _Shepard's back, and the ancestors wouldn't bring him back just to take him away from me again would they? No, I never told him on the Normandy. I didn't even tell him on Freedom's Progress. I'm not losing that chance now. _She had told him she needed time to sort her feelings. It hadn't taken long. As the shock of his return faded, her souls longing quickly took its place.

Two years had made no difference; she had no less love for him now than she had when he died. _I need to see him one more time, to tell him, just once, how much he means to me. It will take more than an unstable star and a few geth scout ships to stop me now._

* * *

><p><em>He sacrificed the colony, <em>Shepard thought to himself angrily._ He sacrificed the entire colony just so he could get a bit of info on their motives. And Ashley..._

Shepard had just returned from the colony 'Horizon,' where the Illusive Man had pulled some strings to have his old squad mate stationed there. When the collectors found out, they didn't hesitate to strike. They had arrived at the planet before even the defense towers could be set up, and the colonists hadn't stood a chance. When Shepard and his team had arrived the collectors were already playing clean up. Eventually his team managed to get the guardian lasers operable again and forced the ship to flee the planet, but not before it had taken half the colony. He had failed his mission. He was their last line of defense and he had failed them. It shouldn't have been able to get any worse, but what happened next shocked everyone.

* * *

><p>"<em>You're letting them get away!" the mechanic shouted angrily.<em>

"_I did the best I could," Shepard said quietly._

"_But... but half the colony's in there! "They got Brent, and Geoff, and... and Lilith!"_

"_I'm sorry, there was nothing else I could do."_

"_Nothing else you could do? You could've left us well enough alone! Instead you brought those guns! You made us a target! This is your fault!"_

"_You... You think I mean for this to happen?" Shepard asked angrily, taking a step forward._

"_Just let him go Shepard," the turian beside him advised. "He's not worth it."_

"_Wait, Shepard? I remember you! You were some big-shot alliance hero! Saved the citadel or something like that. Typical alliance bullshit."_

_Suddenly another voice spoke up, a voice Shepard hadn't heard in over two years, since he activated the Normandy's distress beacon. "Can it _," the woman commanded. "You're in the presence of a god among men."_

_The man groaned. "All the good people we lost and you had to be left behind."_

"_Shepard's the only reason you're not already dead, twice now."_

"_Whatever," the man said, as he stormed away. "I've had enough of you alliance types." It wasn't until the man was gone, that Ashley spoke again. "Shepard?" she asked, touching his arm as if she wasn't sure it was real._

"_Yeah, it's me."_

"_I just, I thought-" her tone suddenly grew angry. "You didn't even contact me! You didn't contact anyone! You let me think you were dead, you let all of us think you were dead!"_

"_I did die! I was in a coma for two years as Cerberus rebuilt me!"_

"_Cerberus," she whispered. "So it is true. You've joined with Cerberus."_

"_I am not _with _Cerberus," he quickly explained, "but right now they are the only ones willing to do anything about our colonies. You saw what happened here. The collectors abducted half the colony without even firing a shot until we arrived. They're working with the reapers!"_

"_Is that what you believe? Or is that what they want you to believe?"_

"_What do you mean 'what they want me to believe?'" he demanded. "Of course that's what I believe."_

"_How do you know they aren't controlling you? How do you know they're not just going to take control once you've done what they wanted? We got a tip that Cerberus might be responsible for the disappearing colonies and here you are."_

"_You think Cerberus is responsible for the disappearing colonies?" he asked incredulously. "Have you not been paying attention to anything? Did those things look like Cerberus operatives? We just drove them off!"_

"_Open your eyes Ashley!" Garrus was speaking now. "Since when did Cerberus start hiring turians? You've got me, a salarian, a krogan, and a woman who spent her entire childhood being tortured by Cerberus employees. Do we look like Cerberus loyalists?"_

"_You too Garrus?"_

"_Why can't you just trust him on this? I did, and I have a lot more to be afraid of from Cerberus than you."_

"_I'm sorry Shepard, but working with Cerberus... You're betraying Humanity, the Alliance... You're betraying me. I'll let the higher-ups decide whether or not they believe your story." With that, she walked off, not even looking back._

"_So long Ash," he whispered._

* * *

><p><em>Even my old crew hates me. All I've got now is Garrus, Chakwas, Joker... and Tali. She said she trusted me, said she would come. I just wish I knew wher- <em>A quiet ping interrupted his thoughts, dragging his eyes to his omni-tool. _Probably the new dossiers, _he thought to himself, sighing. _Might as well see what that asshole dragged up this time._

He activated his omni-tool, and sure enough, he saw the new dossiers sitting on the front page. _Thane Krios: Drell assassin, Samara: Asari justicar, Tali'Zorah: Master Engine-_ he stopped. _Did I read that right?_ he asked himself. Opening the file he frantically read through its contents.

_Tali'Zorah vas Neema_

_Location: Haestrom, Dholen System, Far Rim_

_ALERT: Geth cruiser is currently approaching the planet. Subject's current survival odds low._

Snapping his omni-tool shut, Shepard activated his comm unit. Tali was in danger, and he doubted any team of marines could hold out against a geth cruiser.

"Joker, take us to the Dholen system in the Far Rim!" Shepard ordered. "I want us there yesterday!"

There was a brief moment of silence before Joker responded.

"Uhh, commander? You do know that's geth space right?

"Tali and her team are currently under assault from a geth cruiser in that system. I don't give a damn if they're in geth space or not, I'm not going to let her die out there."

With that knew bombshell dropped on him, joker didn't hesitate to input the coordinates. "Course plotted for the Dholen system, we'll get them out of there." Joker would never tell it to anyone, but aside from the commander, Tali had been the only person he could call a friend, the only other person who ever showed any interest in talking to him. "Synthetic bastards won't get her today."

* * *

><p>"Someone take out that sniper!" Kal'Reegar's voice boomed across the plaza. The geth had come without warning, cutting them off from their shuttle and forcing them deeper into the ancient colony. After that everything possible had gone wrong. There were only nine people left from his original fifty person team and 6 of those soldiers were stationed at an area behind them to hold off the approaching geth forces.<p>

Popping out of cover, he aimed his assault rifle at an approaching geth trooper. A quick burst of fire took down its shields, allowing his next burst to rip through the platforms optics, permanently disabling it. Glancing around, he noticed a faint shimmer in front of him, the tell tale signature of an active cloaking device. _Geth hunter, _Kal thought to himself._ Uses cloaking to get within shotgun range. Shotgun. _The shimmer stopped immediately in front of him, and while he couldn't see it, he knew he was facing down the barrel of a shotgun. _Always figured it would end like this,_ he thought to himself as he braced for what he knew would come. The invisible shotgun fired... and an approaching geth trooper was blown off its feet.

Kal wasted no time emptying his rifles thermal clip into the cloaked platform. At this range accuracy didn't matter. By the time the gun had overheated the platform was no more than a bullet-ridden mass of scrap metal. As he searched for more targets he realized that the battle was already over, no casualties to their side. "You should really be more careful," he heard a familiar voice say. "I won't always be able to hack them before they fire." Looking in the direction of the voice he saw the purple suited form of Tali'Zorah vas Neema, the person his team was tasked to protect.

"Glad to see your okay ma'am."

"Please Kal," she said, "just call me Tali."

"I'll get right on that... ma'am." He watched as she through her arms up in exasperation.

"Someday I'll have Shepard beat the formality out of you."

"You're old commander? He not big on formalities?"

"He banned the use of the word sir when speaking to him. He always said every member of the crew was his equal, no matter the race."

"Sounds like a ni-" the voice of one of his troops blared through his comm unit, cutting of their conversation. "Vynn what's your situation?" he asked.

"We're holding, just fought off another wave of 'em. Jorin took a few shots to the leg but he's got enough antibiotics to keep him going for a while yet. I'm not sure how much longer we can last though. We're low on thermal clips and I don't think we can run on adrenaline alone."

"We're not dead yet Vynn," Kal responded, his voice betraying the worry he felt. They weren't outfitted to deal with a cruisers worth of geth platforms. Unless reinforcements arrived he doubted anyone would make it off this rock, and with their long range comm units fried by the sun the only way they'd receive backup was if a military vessel decided to take a joyride through geth space, not a very likely scenario.

"We all knew the risks going in sir, as long as Tali's safe then we did our job. We all know the fleet can't send reinforcements, and I don't think anyone el-" A sudden explosion boomed across the planet, cutting him off. Kal turned his head towards the source of the detonation, just in time to see the geth cruiser fall from the atmosphere to the surface below in _two _pieces. Fortunately it was far enough away from their location that they didn't have to worry about the wreckage impacting the unstable city. He was still watching the newly dead cruiser fall towards the planet when he heard Vynn over the comm again. "Sir that cruiser just exploded."

"Yeah, we saw it too. It would seem that someone with a lot of power decided to help us out a bit."

"You think the fleet sent reinforcements? I didn't think we had the resources to sp-" Kal cut him off.

"I don't think it's the fleet. That cruiser just blew in half, it doesn't look like it even knew it was being attacked. What do we have that can take a geth cruiser by surprise and blow it apart in seconds?" Vynn was silent a few seconds before replying. "Someone else is here. I just don't know why they would come into geth space. The only explanations are that they wanted info on that star or they're trying to help us out."

"I guess you're right, but who else could've known abou-" A sudden staccato of gunfire blared through Kal's comm. "Damn!" he heard Vynn exclaim. "More geth! Focus fire on the destroyer and don't let it get close!" Kal was able to make out a few more frenzied commands before a flurry of explosions drowned out the voices. Everything was silent for a few seconds before he heard muffled voices return.

"What's going on over there!" Kal demanded, praying to the ancestors that his troops were still alive.

"I think we met our reinforcements."

"Any idea who?"

"There's two humans, a turian, and a really big krogan here. I don't think they're military tro- wait, the human want to talk, just a second." Kal heard a few muffled voices before Vynn reported back to him. "Sir, is Tali okay?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because we've got a really worried Commander Shepard down here."

_Commander Shepard! What's he doing down here? How did he even find out about this mission? _Vynn, patch me through to the commander's channel, this is probably a conversation best done directly."

"Roger that." Everything was quiet for a few seconds before an unfamiliar voice spoke up over his comm system.

"This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy, can whoever I'm talking to tell me if Tali's okay?"

* * *

><p>"Joker, I think it's time we give the thanix cannon its first live fired exercise against a real target"<p>

"I think that geth cruiser will do very nicely," the pilot agreed, smiling. "Do you want it dead now or later?"

"Later," he informed the pilot, much to his dismay.

"Aww, but it'd be so much more fun to blow it up now," Joker complained. "Why wait?"

"Because we need time to get to the ground first," Shepard explained. "Blowing up their ship will just alert them to our presence."

"Yeah, I guess," the pilot said dejectedly. "So what's the plan?"

"I'll be taking an infiltration team in the first Kodiak to hit them from behind. Miranda will lead the second assault team to cut through any geth ahead of the quarians and hopefully reinforce their position. When my team makes contact with the geth then you blow that cruiser to whatever hell geth go to."

"Sounds good commander."

"I'm actually surprised joker, you don't normally care about the ground teams plan."

"Oh... yeah, "Joker stammered. "Well I uhh... I just wanted to know when I could... Y'know... fire the thanix cannon."

"Why am I not surprised?" Shepard asked the pilot, laughing. "Now get on the comm and tell all ground team members to meet down by the kodiaks."

"Uhh... yeah," he acknowledged as he activated the ship-wide comm unit. "All ground team members report to the cargo bay ASAP. The longer you guys delay the longer I have to wait to test the new guns."

After shaking his head for a few seconds at his pilots impatience Shepard regained his serious expression and quickly made his way to the Normandy's elevator, praying that it was running a bit faster than normal today. If Tali died because of a slow elevator... he wasn't sure what he'd do. If she died for any reason he'd likely lose it, probably jeopardize the mission, and be forced to give command to Miranda.

_Damn it Shepard,_ he scolded himself. _Stop thinking about that. She's going to be fine. A few geth wouldn't take her down, and with your team backing up her squad the geth don't stand a chance._

* * *

><p>"Those geth are shooting at something, and it's not us," Garrus observed.<p>

"Then it looks like we've made contact with the quarians. Grunt, I want you to take this grenade launcher," Shepard handed the heavy weapon to the krogan's eager hands, "and blow every geth soldier you can see into tiny little pieces when you hear the word go. Garrus, you're providing sniper support. Zaeed, you get to do whatever the hell you want. I'll distract them with biotics." Activating his comm unit, he then gave Joker the order the pilot had been waiting for since they arrived. "Joker, weapons test is a go. That geth cruiser just volunteered to be our target."

"Roger that commander, already in firing position. Give the word and that ship becomes scrap metal."

"Fire."

Thousands of kilometers above him, a stealthed frigate silently acknowledged the order, launching twin streams of molten material from its bow. Seconds later the deadly rays made contact with the hostile cruiser, quickly ripping through the vessels shields and blasting into the it's heavy armour. Had the Normandy used normal Mass Accelerator cannons the armour would've easily deflected the shot. The thanix cannon however, was not a normal mass accelerator cannon. The twin beams ripped through the plating, thoroughly gutting the ship before exiting out the other side and _continuing_ onwards and slowly dissipating.

Watching from the pilot's chair, even Joker was speechless. After a few seconds of staring at the carnage he activated his comm and shouted "Commander, that was fucking awesome!"

Watching from the ground Commander Shepard was struggling to tear his eyes away from the explosive spectacle.

Watching from a nearby plaza a quarian marine was reporting the welcome occurrence to his commanding officer.

The clatter of geth pulse rifle fire brought two of them back to the matter at hand.

"Shepard!" Garrus shouted. "Those quarians could really use our help!"

"Help's on the way," Shepard told him with a grin. "Grunt, would you like to the honours?"

A trio of explosions mixed with a roar of "I AM KROGAN!" answered his question for him. Chuckling at his powerful allies lack of subtlety, Shepard unleashed a powerful shockwave, tossing geth platforms left and right and making them easy pickings for the turian sniper concealed behind a pile of rubble. An inferno grenade tossed by Zaeed began burning through the armour of the platforms without shields. Caught in a crossfire between the quarian defenders and Shepard's own team, the geth were destroyed in a matter of seconds, their once advanced platforms nothing more than broken piles of metal.

With the battle over, Shepard wasted no time in contacting the quarian team. Advancing towards their position he could hear one relaying news of reinforcements through his comm unit. _They must be a rear guard. Tali's probably with their main force. _He waved to get the marines attention, silently praying that Tali was still safe. The quarian soldier hopped over the chest high wall he had been using as cover to greet him.

"Vynn'Tal vas Migrant Fleet Marines," the soldier proudly announced. "I don't know who you are, but I'm damn glad you're here. Don't think we would've made it much longer if you hadn't shown up."

"Commander Shepard, commanding officer of the Normandy SR2," he told the marine. "Normally I'd ask you about why you're ship name has been replaced with Migrant Fleet Marines but I really need to find someone."

"Normally I would ask how you knew of our ship names, but I can tell you're in a rush. If I may ask, who would you be looking for in geth space?"

"I'm looking for Tali'Zorah vas Neema," Shepard told the marine. "She's okay, right?" Looking at the former spectre, the marine could easily hear worry that was evident in his voice.

"I'm not sure, she was with Kal'Reegar's team. I think we would've heard if she was injured though. I've got Kal on the comm now, I'll check in."

"You need to report to him anyway... just make sure Tali's okay."

"Just give me a second here." _I wonder why a human would be so worried about a quarian. It's almost like he's on the bon- no, that's not possible, is it?_ He quickly cleared his thoughts, and began speaking to his squad leader. "Sir, is Tali okay?"

"Yes, why?" Kal'Reegar responded.

"Because we've got a really worried Commander Shepard down here." _Worried about as much as a quarian on the bonding path, _he didn't add.

"Vynn, patch me through to the commander's channel," Kal requested. "This is probably a conversation best done directly."

"Roger that." Everything was quiet for a few seconds before an unfamiliar voice spoke up over his comm system.

"This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy, can whoever I'm talking to tell me if Tali's okay?"

"Commander Shepard?" the marine leader asked incredulously. "Not to question the help you're offering, but how did you even find us out here?"

"I can explain that later, but right now our first priority should be making sure Tali and the rest of your marines are safe. What's your location?"

"We're stationed just outside an observatory. We're going to get Tali in there so she can finish analyzing the data we came here for and stay safe while we try and get rid of the geth. That should be a lot easier now that their cruiser's gone."

"Our new thanix cannon certainly packs a nice punch doesn't it? Now, can you transmit your current co-ordinates to my omni-tool?"

"Transmitting now, though I don't really think there's much need. Most of the geth went down with that cruiser, and the remaining platforms shouldn't be too much to de-" He was cut off by a sudden explosion. "Damn it! Colossus! Get Tali in that building now! Shepard, forget my previous statement. I think we might need the assistance now. My squad's not outfitted to deal with walking tanks!"

"We're on our way now!" Not waiting for the quarians acknowledgement, Shepard switched comm channels, contacting the rest of his team. "Miranda, how far away is your team?"

"We're a few minutes from their position. We can reinforce their position and hold off the geth until you arrive."

"Please do so. If Reegar's team is fighting a colossus then they'll need all the help they can get. Reinforce their position, but do not, I repeat do not make any sort of assault until my team arrives."

"Of course commander." With the conversation over, Shepard turned back towards his team.

"Garrus, Grunt, Zaeed, let's move."

He turned towards the exit, but before they could leave one of the marines spoke up. "Hey, you're not leaving us here. We were supposed to keep Tali safe, and we can't do that if we're stuck back here."

Looking back towards the marine unit, Shepard spoke. "You can't keep Tali safe if you're dead. You've got three suit punctures in your leg and in no shape to be moving at all." Turning to another marine, he said "Your visor on the verge of shattering. The slightest concussive impact will probably wreck it and expose you to radiation and bacteria. In fact, only one of you doesn't have some sort of injury. You will be more effective back here, making sure we can't be hit from behind by whatever geth are left on this planet. There's already been enough needless deaths on this planet."

"With all due respect commander, a worthless death is even worse than a needless one." It was the marine with three leg wounds speaking. "The only reason I'm still standing is because I've almost drowned my body in antibiotics. We won't get to the fleet fast enough for medical attention."

Turning around to face the outspoken marine, Shepard grinned. "Well lucky for you we've got a doctor on our ship who has plenty of experience treating quarians." Seeing the marine still not back down Shepard raised his voice. "You can stay here and watch out backs like we need you to or I can have Grunt here," he gestured to the towering krogan, "knock anyone who complains unconscious and drag them back to our ship."

Hearing this, Grunt let out a loud groan. "But Shepard, that would make me miss the fight!"

"Let me correct my previous statement. You would have a very pissed off Grunt drag you back to our ship. He doesn't like missing fights."

There was a long silence before one of the quarians finally spoke up. "Fine Shepard, we'll do this your way. But if Tali dies out there, then there will be hell to pay."

"If Tali dies out there then I deserve nothing less. You might not need to bother though..." Hearing his last statement, some of the marines looked around in confusion. They couldn't hear him as he thought to himself; _I'll already be there... _ If they had, they might have understood.

* * *

><p>"Objective located. Quarian strike team underpowered for dealing with such a large unit, numbers small too." The rapidly speaking salarian suddenly took a deep breath. "Would recommend immediate assistance."<p>

"I understand the situation perfectly Dr. Solus," a female voice spoke icily. "You do not need to explain it to me."

"Relax Miranda," another voice said, this one much more charming and upbeat. "I don't think he can help himself. Besides, it's not like he hurts anything by clarifying it."

"Yeah, listen to Kasumi, Cerberus Bitch."

"I don't think that's really necessary Jack," Kasumi scolded.

"Ah, we all know it's true."

"That's enough!" Miranda interjected. "We've got a job to do. We're going to reinforce those marines until Shepard gets here. When Shepard gets here we will follow his orders to the letter, and until then you will follow mine. Is that understood?"

"Yeah, whatever," Jack groaned

"Of course your majesty," Kasumi said sarcastically.

"Would not dream of disrupting team dynamic!" Mordin explained, almost as if he had taken... offense?

Miranda sighed. "I guess that's as good as I'll get from you. Now, when there's a break in geth fire we make a dash for the quarians position. Jack, you distract them with biotics."

"Sounds fun," the tattooed biotic said with a grin.

"Mordin you try and snap freeze or incinerate some of them as we make our way across."

"Understood. Will wait for command."

"Kasumi, you activate your cloak and get over there now. I want you to let whoever's in charge know that we're coming, that way they can provide some covering fire for us."

"Of course," the thief acknowledge, quickly vanishing from sight. "I'm on my way now."

"Now what?" Jack asked.

"Now we wait for Kasumi to talk to the leader."

Jack sighed. "She better get their fast. I really want to blow something up."

Now it was Miranda's turn to sigh. _You better be grateful for this Shepard. Leaving me with a hyperactive scientist, a thief who can't take anything seriously, and an unstable super-biotic. You could've at least left me with Garrus to help manage the situation. _Suddenly another thought occurred to her, rather out of place given the situation. _Did I just call the turian by name?_

* * *

><p>Reaching a safe piece of cover near the quarian team, Kasumi deactivated her stealth field, not wanting to startle the remnants of the quarian strike force. She quickly ran up to where two quarians were in cover, occasionally popping out to take shots at the geth as they advanced. The first quarian, wearing a purple-black enviro-suit was carrying what looked to be a very large and heavily modified sniper rifle, and forcibly removing the optics of any geth that dared stay out of cover for more than a few seconds. The second quarian was wearing a red suit, and clutching a missile launcher, also heavily modified.<p>

_Hopefully one of them is the leader, _Kasumi thought to herself. _If not, they should at least be able to tell me where he is. _Seeing that no fire was being directed her way Kasumi made a quick dash to the two soldiers position, before slamming into cover beside them. "Is either one of you Kal'Reegar?"

Turning to look at her, the red suited quarian spoke. "That would be me. Are you the reinforcements Shepard sent?" he asked. "Because we're going to need more than one person to take down that colossus."

"Sort of. I just came down to make sure you knew we were coming and don't accidentally shoot at us," the thief explained. "The rest of our team's gonna make a break for this position as soon as I tell them it's okay, which I guess now that I've told you, it is." Activating her comm unit, Kasumi said "Miranda. They know we're coming. Feel free to come on down and help our friends out a bit."

"Good, please ask the quarian team to put up some covering fire. We'll be making our dash in exactly 30 seconds. Miranda out."

"The rest of our team is coming down now. Could your team provide us with any cover fire?"

"You're looking at my team. The rest of it is at an outpost farther back, protecting us against any attacks from behind. Still, we can do some damage. Just tell us when and we'll shoot."

"They're making their dash in four seconds. I think we might as well start shooting now."

"Always got time to kill a few more geth. Sola?"

"Ready when you are sir."

"Good, now let's provide our reinforcements with a little breathing space. Fire!"

Together they stood up, sniper rounds, pistol shots, and rockets driving the geth into cover, and destroying any foolish enough to keep firing. For about 30 seconds, the geth were pinned down by the barrage of fire, then a blue bolt of energy rocketed towards them, driving them back into cover, and allowing the geth to regain their positions and resume firing.

"I hope your team can make it the rest of the way by themselves, because with that colossus targeting us we're not going anywhere." Another pulse slammed into the wall beside Kasumi, blowing a large chunk of stone out and emphasizing Kal's point.

"I think that should've given them enough time to get over here," Kasumi told the marine.

"Indeed it did. Kal'Reegar?"

"Yes, may I ask who I am speaking to?"

"Operative Lawson, Shepard's second in command," the woman announced.

"Well I'm glad to have you here, Operative Lawson," he let his eyes scan over his new reinforcements. A heavily tattooed and barely clothed human woman, a salarian dressed in a reinforce lab coat, the petite hooded human woman he had already met, and lastly the woman in front of him, who he couldn't deny looked more than a little attractive in that... armour? _How does that stop anything? And why am I thinking about that? _He gave his head a quick shake to clear the out-of-place thoughts. "But it's going to take more than six people to take out a few platoons of geth and colossus," he finished.

"We're just here to reinforce you until Shepard arrives," Lawson explained.

_I've heard some crazy stories about Shepard, _mostly from Tali, he realized, _but how does one person make a difference against two platoons and a colossus? _"Now I don't doubt your commanders prowess in battle, but how is a single person going to make a difference against the geth we're up against?"

"Simple," Miranda state, cracking a rare smile. "He's Shepard."

* * *

><p>"Garrus!" Shepard shouted. That prime has some heavy shields. Work on overloading them while Zaeed, Grunt, and I deal with the drones."<p>

"Got it Shepard!" the turian sniper acknowledged.

"Zaeed, can you spare a disruptor ammo attachment?"

"I've got about ten of 'em. You gave 'em to me specifically so I could give them to others," he explained with a hint of exasperation while tossing the device in Shepard's direction.

"Yeah, well it doesn't hurt to be polite," Shepard replied sarcastically, attaching the ammo modifier to his pistol.

"Tell that to them!" Zaeed shouted, pointing at the hovering geth drones.

Not bothering to reply, Shepard turned to Grunt. "Grunt, when Garrus takes the shields of that prime down, you blow it up. I don't care how you do it, just make sure it never activates again."

"A worthy foe," grunt replied, hefting his grenade launcher. "It will die like any other."

"Just wait for Garrus to fini-"

"Overload ready!" Garrus announced, cutting him off. "Just give the word Shepard."

"Overload now!" Shepard ordered, stepping out of cover and firing at the remaining drones, his disruptor ammo disabling their Mass Effect generators and sending them crashing to the floor. There was a brief flash around the Prime, and the faint blue glow previously surrounding it disappeared. "Grunt, shields are down!" With its shields gone, the powerful machine had little to defend against the flurry of grenades fired by the laughing krogan, and was quickly ripped apart by the powerful explosives.

"Ha, I like this gun Shepard. Can I keep it?"

"Go ahead. I prefer the Cain anyway."

"Thank you battlemaster."

"It's no problem Grunt. You can thank me by helping get Tali out of here. Now, I think I hear a firefight nearby. Let's move!"

* * *

><p>He had been right about a firefight being nearby. The moment Shepard stepped into the plaza he was greeted by geth pulse rifle fire. Ahead of him he could see Miranda and a red-suited quarian he assumed was Kal'Reegar giving out orders to various troops. He realized with a start that only one was quarian, and that the rest were members of his team. <em>There are that few left? If I had gotten the Normandy here sooner... No, can't think like that now. Tali's in that observatory, and I'm not letting the geth get to her now.<em>

"Garrus!"

"Yeah Shepard?"

"I need you and Zaeed to take out the geth firing at us," he ordered. "We need to get over to Miranda's position, and those geth are determined to keep us back."

"Got it," Garrus acknowledged, pulling out his sniper rifle.

"Damn geth won't know what hit 'em," Zaeed replied, doing the same.

"Good. The moment you start firing Grunt and I will dash towards Miranda's position," he told them. "It looks like Kal'Reegar is there too. You two are staying here until that colossus is dead, acting as our sniper support."

"Will do Shepard," Garrus responded, tapping the side of his eyepiece a few times. "Zaeed, my visor has a kill counter on it. It can even tell who killed what. "I say we have some friendly competition."

"If the loser's buying drinks I'm in!" Zaeed, replied, a hint of mirth in his voice.

"Done and done. Now..." a loud crack resonated through the air, cutting off whatever he was about to say.

"Your visor catch that one Archangel?" Zaeed asked, tauntingly.

"Oh you bastard!" Garrus shouted, blasting the optics off his own geth. If Tali wasn't in danger Shepard would have laughed. As it was, he still felt a small chuckle escape him.

"Grunt lets move!"

"I AM KROGAN!" was the response, as the towering krogan charged towards cover.

_Well that should alert Miranda to our presence, _Shepard thought with another small chuckle. He felt a few rounds deflect off his shields, but they were still strong when he threw himself into cover beside his X.O. Taking a few seconds to get himself in a more comfortable position, he asked, "Miranda, what's the situation here?"

"We're locked in a stalemate right now. We're keeping the geth back, but that colossus is stopping us from making any attempt at moving forward," Miranda informed him. We've tried taking it out from range, but not easy."

"It's got a repair sequence," Kal explained. "Do enough damage to it and it huddles up and repairs itself. We can't hit it from here when it activates that sequence, so it's effectively invincible."

"Is there any way we can avoid it?" Shepard inquired.

"It's standing right in front of the observatory, so unfortunately not."

"So we need to get up close and hit it with everything we've got?" Shepard asked.

"I don't see any other option," the quarian admitted.

"Okay, we can do that. What can you tell me about the layout of the battlefield?"

"There's three ways to the observatory. The right path has the most protection from the colossus, but it has little protection from the sun. The center path is the most direct path to the colossus and has the most protection from the sun, but it's a killing ground. The left path has lots of cover and a decent amount of protection from the solar radiation, but the colossus has a clear line of sight to you at all times."

"None seem particularly better than the others... I think I've got a plan."

"Just like that?" Kal asked, doubtful.

"Trust me, it'll work. Garrus, Zaeed, you two are still on sniper support, but I want you to focus specifically on helping the assault teams. Focus on the ones that look like they could do the most damage to us. Keep your game going if you want, but don't let it effect our survival odds."

"Whaddya think I am Shepard, a guddamn rookie? I won't let our little competition effect the mission... too much."

"Don't worry Shepard, you're worth more than a few drinks... unless they're native from Palavin. What kind of drinks were we talking about Zaeed?"

Shepard let out a sigh of exasperation. "Glad you guys care," he said, over the sound of their laughing. "I'm docking your pay when I die Zaeed, and Garrus, your ass is haunted. Anyway, Miranda, I want you to take a team up the left path, try and distract that colossus from the other teams. Take Kasumi and Jack with you."

"Of course commander," she said in her usual professional calm.

"Kal, I want you to take the other quarian, uhh..."

"Sola'Laer" Kal informed him.

"I want you to take Sola'Laer and Mordin up the right path, take out any geth in your way, and get in close to that colossus."

"What about me, battlemaster? I do not want to miss a good fight."

"Grunt, you and I are going straight down the middle."

"The most dangerous of the three. I like it. Tell me where to shoot."

"Oh, and Reegar?"

"What do you need, Shepard?"

"Can I have that rocket launcher?" Shepard asked, grinning.

"Something tells me you'll need it," he said, handing Shepard the weapon. "Take it."

* * *

><p>"Now, everyone get in position! I think its time we show that colossus that it isn't as indestructible as it thinks it is."<p>

"Team Jaeto, in position," Miranda's voice said over the comm.

"Mannovai, also in position," Kal added.

"Aegohr is in position as well," Shepard finished. "You all know the drill. Team leaders discussed it with me; the team leaders should have briefed everyone else. Anyone with questions, you have thirty seconds."

"I've got a question," Jack shouted over the comm.

"Shoot."

"What the fuck is with these stupid names?"

"You'd have to be from the old Normandy Jack. Needless to say, they're important to me and you'll have to live with them."

"Whatever," she sighed.

"Any other questions?" Shepard asked. He waited ten seconds before saying, "no? Good. Jaeto, move up now."

"Jaeto moving up." He heard Miranda give a few orders over the comm before seeing a fusion of biotics and mass accelerator rounds lash out at the waiting geth.

"Mannovai, when that colossus fires in their direction, you move forward. Garrus, Zaeed, focus fire on the rocket troops and destroyers." A series of affirmatives greeted him, followed by the sound of even more gunfire. With both fireteams now fighting, Shepard turned his attention to his own job. _Shoot down the center and remove the colossus from play. Grunt and I can make short work of any basic troopers, and there doesn't seem to be much in the way of heavy units. _

"Grunt," he began, turning to the tank-bred krogan beside him. "I think it's time we show these geth how real soldiers fight."

"I will show them a good fight," the krogan acknowledged. "What is your plan?"

"Charge right down the middle," he said, much to Grunt's delight. He almost laughed at the sadistic grin spreading across the krogan's face.

* * *

><p>"Jack, hit them with a shockwave!"<p>

"Whatever," Jack responded, blasting a powerful biotic pulse through the ground and into the hostile synthetics. As the pulse made contact, it tossed geth left and right, launching them out of cover and through the air, easy targets for Team Jaeto's weapons. Catching one of them in a biotic vice grip, Miranda was about to slam it to the ground when a rocket streaked passed her neck. Tossing her victim to the side, she ducked into cover, just in time to avoid another rocket that cut through the air above her.

"Kasumi! Take out that rocket trooper! I can't get a shot at it from here!"

"On it," the thief replied, the playful charm in her voice finally replaced with a more battle appropriate intensity. Miranda watched as the thief vanished from sight, nothing more than a faint shimmer weaving throughout the battlefield. Turning her attention back to the battle at hand, Miranda popped out of cover, quickly overloading the shields of an approaching trooper before another rocket drove her behind cover again. Fortunately, Jack wasn't similarly impeded, and annihilated the overloaded trooper with a blast of her eviscerator shotgun.

"Get some, bitches!" the tattooed biotic shouted, before she two was forced down by a rocket.

"Kasumi!" Miranda shouted into the comm. "We can't make any headway with that rocket trooper still active! Where are you?"

"Give me a few more seconds Miranda!" the woman responded. "It's not easy avoiding all these geth!"

"Just make it quick! Every second were pinned down is a second the geth have to push us back!"

"Yeah, okay, I get it! Just let me circle behind... and... Got it!" The stuttering screech of a dying geth was music to Miranda's ears. With the rocket trooper no longer keeping her and Jack pinned to the ground, the remaining geth were a much smaller threat. Opening her omni-tool, she was able to overload the shields of an approaching destroyer, just in time for Jack to lift it in the air. Seizing the opportunity, Miranda once again tapped into her biotic power and slammed the machine into the unforgiving floor, leaving it nothing more than a bent and broken shell.

"Maybe you're not completely useless cheerleader!" Jack shouted at her. "That was actually okay! But can you do this?" Miranda watched as Jack wreathed herself in a cone of biotic energy, before blasting into a nearby shock trooper, launching it at breakneck speeds into the observatory wall.

_Leave it to the insane super-biotic to turn a rescue mission into a competition,_ she thought to herself, unaware of the competition already active between the two ground team snipers. _It seems like Shepard is the only other person taking this seriously, _she realized. Then another thought occurred to her. _Since when did he start taking mission seriously? Until now, he acted like things were all a game. She was his old teammate, but even when we were helping Garrus, the two took it like a joke, a daily occurrence. Could they- No, don't be stupid. She's a quarian. He wouldn't stoop that low, would he?_

"Hey cheerleader! You coming?" The voice of an impatient Jack snapped her out of her reverie. "We've still got more geth to kill!" Shaking her head, Miranda vaulted over cover, firing at a fortified trooper as she dashed for nearby pillar. _Focus on the mission Miranda, _she scolded herself. _She's just a good friend of his, nothing more. Just get the mission done. _With her mind cleared, she was able to turn her full attention back to the fight at hand.

"I'm coming Jack!" she shouted back. "I was just evaluating the situation."

"Yeah, whatever. Since you were so busy 'evaluating the situation,'" the sarcastic tone of her voice told Miranda that Jack didn't believe her for an instant. "You want to tell me what the hell Shepard's been doing while we get shot at over here?"

"He's," she looked down at the path Shepard and Grunt were taken, and at first, just saw the many destroyed geth platform covering the surface. Next she saw grunt, the towering krogan covered in geth coolant fluids. Finally she saw Shepard, staring at the geth colossus and wreathed in a glowing ball of biotic energy, the telltale signature of a biotic charge in the making. _I don't believe it! Is he actually going to charge a geth colossus?"_

"Miranda, what the fuck is he doing!" The use of her proper name by Jack again snapped her back to reality.

"He's charging the colossus," Miranda said simply.

* * *

><p>"Sola, rocket heading your way! Get down!"<p>

Heeding his warning, Kal saw the quarian sniper dive backwards, away from the approaching rocket. Safely out of the way, she was still thrown backwards from the shockwaves of the resulting explosion.

"We could really use some sniper support back here!" he shouted into the comm, hoping one of Shepard's snipers were listening. "Something's shooting rockets at us, and I have no idea where it is!" Thankfully, the turian, Garrus, was quick to respond.

"Do you have a general idea of its location?" the turian asked. "I can try and find him myself, but it might take a while."

"Anybody got an idea where those rockets are coming from?" he asked his team. Sola shook her head, but Mordin, the salarian Shepard had sent with him began speaking excitedly.

"Rockets taking some time to impact location," the salarian began. "Enough time for target to flee to safe distances. Tells us that projectiles are originating from father back, most likely end of pathway. Trajectory is even, indicates little height difference between us an target. Source most likely located in rubble near observatory wall," he finished.

Kal was silent for a moment, trying to understand how the scientist beside him had discovered their foes position so quickly. After a few seconds he just gave up. "Garrus," he began, speaking into his comm. "Mordin says the target is most likely concealed in the rubble near the observatory wall. See if you can take him out."

After only a few seconds of silence, Garrus responded. "Target in sight, looks like a rocket trooper. Taking it out." The harsh retort of a sniper rifle echoed through the air, followed by a stuttering squeal. "Scoped and dropped," the turian said calmly.

_Damn! _Kal thought to himself. _Bad one-liners aside, Shepard has the best team I've ever seen._ _They just took out a hidden target in about 20 seconds. I'll have t-_ Without warning; Kal was thrown backward, launched into the air from the explosion of the colossus' siege pulse.

"Kal!" he heard Sola scream. Shakily, he got back to his feet, an alarm of some sort screeching through his head. Taking cover behind a nearby pillar, he took a moment to recollect himself. Suddenly he realized what the alarm was. _That's not good, _he thought to himself, staring at the patches of his suits leg that were bleached with his blood. His suit had sealed the wound, but he was pretty sure he had a few chunks of rock still inside his leg.

"Kal!" he heard Sola shout again. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Sola," he reassured her. "Think I've got a few pieces of the planet stuck inside my leg though."

"Suit breach," he heard Mordin reply. "Highly dangerous for quarians. Recommend immediate medical attention."

"No need just yet Mordin," he told the salarian. "We've got to get Tali'Zorah out of here first. I'm already swimming in antibiotics."

Suddenly the salarian was beside him, handing him some sort of medicine attached to a needle. "Take this. Synthesized before mission in anticipation of wounded quarian survivors. Will increase survival odds."

For a second, Kal stared at the salarian incredulously. He had created a new type of medication for the quarian species a few hours before Shepard arrived just in case they found wounded survivors? Shaking himself out of his stupor, he let the salarian inject it near the area of the wounds. "Thanks doctor. That serum will help our whole species. I'll have the fleet discuss price with you when we get back."

"Price?" the salarian asked, offended. "Would not dream of charging for medical care. Medicine may save lives. That is payment enough. Now, back to mission. Tali'Zorah not safe yet."

"Right. Mordin, do you know where Shepard's at? That colossus has us pinned down now, and I don't think our snipers can take that out."

"Shepard?" The salarian looked down at the center path, staring at something for a few seconds before turning back to the injured marine. "Would appear that Shepard is biotically charging a geth colossus."

* * *

><p>"Grunt, Miranda and Kal's teams are engaged. Now we do our part." Hefting the missile launcher given to him by Kal, he launched one of its homing projectiles at a distant trooper, the resulting explosion tearing the geth apart. Turning around to face the new threat, a geth destroyed met the same fate from Grunt's grenade launcher. He turned to fire another rocket, but was driven into cover by a surge of geth pulse rifle fire, the machines having already responded to the new threat.<p>

The geth however, had miscalculated. They had all focused their guns on Shepard, determined to keep him in place. It was a sound plan. The problem came when they failed to include a genetically perfect krogan in their calculations. With a savage battle cry, Grunt tore into the machines, his shotgun blasting a hole through the torso of a geth trooper. Not content with using a gun, the krogan ripped the arm off another trooper and used it to smash the optics of a geth destroyer that had turned to face him. Just as the geth turned on this new threat, Shepard charged into their midst.

Smashing into a normal trooper, the resulting biotic pulse blasted several geth backwards, leaving them lying on the floor. In front of him, he saw the faint shimmer of a cloaked hunter, and fired in its direction with his shotgun. The eviscerator tore impacted the platform, shattering its kinetic barriers and causing it to stagger back. A second shot blew through its chest, replacing much of its armour with a gaping hole. With the stealthed platform no longer a threat, Shepard turned his attention to the geth in front of him. Wreathing himself in biotic energy, he generated a biotic pull and lifted the shock trooper into the air, making it easy pray for the sniper round that removed it's flashlight head from it's body.

Spinning around, Shepard saw that Grunt had the few remaining geth under control, and focused his attention on the colossus, which was busy firing upon Mannovai team. _Damn it! _he thought to himself. _It's supposed to be shooting at Jaeto! _He saw the colossus fire another of its devastating siege pulse. _I'll have to get up clo- _he was cut off by the sound he dreaded most.

"Kal!" he heard Sola scream. _No! Not again! I can't have lost someone else! _

"Mordin!" he shouted into his comm. "What state is Kal in? Please tell me he's alive!"

"Kal'Reegar alive but injured. Recommend immediate medical care upon mission completion. Will administer quarian temporary immune system enhancer developed earlier to improve survival chances."

"Thank you Mordin," he acknowledged the salarian. "I'll deal with this colossus." Turning to the colossus, he fixed it in a glare that promised only death. Hefting his missile launcher, Shepard wreathed himself in biotic energy and charged.

He rocketed towards the colossus, aiming for the area right between the machines four legs. A split second later, he stopped, halting his charge by colliding with the bottom of the walking tank's body. Not pausing for a second, he ejected every single rocket out of the missile launcher in his hands, letting the powerful but inactive explosives spread out beneath the four-legged platform. When the weapon had been emptied of every shot he tossed it to the side and grabbed one of Zaeed's many gifts to the team. Dropping the weapon in his hand, he dove out from underneath the colossus, leaving the now active inferno grenade with the previously deposited pile of explosives.

Without missing a beat, he wreathed himself in biotic energy and charged once more, vanishing from place and fleeing to a safe distance.

The colossus behind him didn't understand the situation. It didn't worry about the explosives beneath its frame. Instead, it just kept firing, determined to destroy the organics impeding its mission. A brief second later, it had no mission to worry about, destroyed so fast that the program inside did not even have a chance to re-upload to it's collective. It was ended. One moment it was there, the next moment it was not, replaced instead with an explosion larger than that of an M-90 Cain. A few moments later, a once dead human spectre was entering the observatory the now non-existent machine had defended.

* * *

><p>"That is probably the biggest guddamn explosion I've ever seen one man create," the scarred mercenary observed, wowed for the first time in many years. "Is this a regular thing archangel?"<p>

"Shepard's always liked explosions, but that... that's something else," Garrus replied.

"He must've been pretty guddamn at that colossus. Think he survived that?"

"He charged away at the last second," Garrus pointed out. "I think he made it out."

"Garrus, Zaeed, you there?" Shepard's voice crackled over the comm.

"Yep, definitely made it out," Garrus said to the mercenary.

Not listening, Zaeed said, "Shepard, that is the biggest guddamn explosion I've ever seen created on the ground like that. What the hell 'id you do?"

"Emptied every shell out of missile launcher and dropped an inferno grenade on top of them." Shepard told the mercenary, with a laugh. "Didn't expect it to be that big though. Anyway, I'm sending most of the team back to the shuttle. They're picking up the remnants of Kal's team along the way. I'm keeping you two, as well as Jack, Kal, and Sola here. I want you two to keep an eye out for any geth that find their way here."

"You got it Shepard," Garrus acknowledged. "But why are you keeping the other three here?"

"No room in the shuttle," Shepard explained.

"Oh... right. Well... uh, have fun?" _What the hell was that? Have fun? And with Zaeed in earshot too..._

"Yeah, okay Garrus," Shepard said with a laugh before switching off his comm.

There was a brief moment of silence before Zaeed said, "Have fun? What the hell was that?"

"Shut up Zaeed."

* * *

><p>The door opened, and Shepard stepped into the observatory, instantly recognizing the suited figure tapping away at an omni-tool. "So..." he began, rather awkwardly. "Did you uhh..." <em>Speak normally you idiot!<em> "Did you get that information you needed?"

Hearing his voice, she turned towards him. "John? You came?" There was a hint of disbelief in her voice.

He laughed. "Who else is crazy enough to mount a daring rescue mission in geth space?" He was about to say more, but found himself unable to say more as Tali wrapped him in a tight embrace.

"I... I thought that I was going to die here, and that I wouldn't be able to tell you..." she was sobbing slightly, though whether it was from happiness or fear he wasn't sure.

"Hey," he said, comfortingly, wrapping his arms around her and looking into her eyes. "It's okay. I'm here and you're safe."

"I know," she began, no longer crying. "It's just... I thought about what we talked about on Freedom's Progress, and I... I just wanted you to know that I..." she paused for a moment before continuing. "I was an idiot. I should've left with you when I had the chance."

"Listen," he began, his arms still wrapped around her slim form. "You are not an idiot. You did what any normal person would do. You saw someone you thought was dead for two years. I don't blame you for needing to think things through. Besides, you had a mission you were needed for."

"A mission? I am the last of fifty people. 49 good people dead, all for some data on a star? I lost everyone I came down here with." She didn't notice the two other figures that had stepped into the room.

"Not everyone ma'am." At the sound of another voice, she pulled away from the former spectre, although one of her hands still unconsciously grasped his. Turning towards the voice, she let out a cry of excitement when she saw the red suited form of Kal'Reegar, along with the black suited form of Sola'Laer. A pang of worry sprang up when she saw the limp he was walking with, but she quickly dismissed it. He'd be fine soon anyway.

"Kal! You're alive! Sola too!"

"Us and about six other marines Shepard pulled out of the fire," Kal informed her. You've got one insane commander, ma'am. I don't think I ever saw that in the strategy guide for dealing with geth colossus'."

"What can I say?" Shepard said with a laugh. "I like my explosions."

"I take it he pulled off some suicidal act of bravery against that colossus?"

"Got that right ma'am. Emptied the rockets out of my launcher, charged underneath the bastard, dumped them on the ground, than blew them all up with an inferno grenade. I had to look away and I'm wearing a tinted visor."

"That sounds like something Shepard would do," she replied, her previous sadness quickly buried under a torrent of positive emotions. "That would also explain why the whole room was shaking a few minutes ago. Why am I not surprised?"

"I've known him for less than an hour and I'm not surprised."

"That's the general response around Shepard Kal," she explained.

"I can see why," he said with a laugh. "Anyway ma'am, I just wanted to let you know that there's no need to be so secretive. Sola and I will let you tell the fleet yourself."

"Tell the fleet what?" Tali asked, confused.

"It's really quite obvious ma'am," he told her, humour evident in his voice.

"I still don't ge-" she was cut off by the sound of Shepard laughing.

"What's so funny?" she demanded.

"He's talking about us," Shepard said, attempting to stifle the laughs that were still forcing their way out.

"Us? What do you mean-" she looked into his affectionate gaze and realized, "oh, keelah. H-How did you find out?" she asked meekly.

"Well... He was the only thing you ever talked about in the fleet, and after seeing what he went through to save you..." Kal left the sentence hanging for a few seconds, before continuing. "It was obvious ma'am."

"That and you were in one of the deepest embraces I've ever seen when we came in here," Sola added. "Plus, you're still holding his hand now."

"What?" Tali looked down and saw that she was in fact gripping his hand, quite tightly too. "Oh." She briefly considered releasing it, but quickly shook away that notion. If Kal and Sola already knew then it wouldn't change anything. They fit together quite well, her three fingers between his five, and she relished the feeling. Instead, she gripped his hand tighter, smiling up at him, a smile that he returned.

Eventually she turned back to the other two quarians, who she was sure were laughing at her. "I'm glad you'll let me tell them Kal. In return, I'll let you tell the fleet about you and Sola.

"You saw that ma'am?" he asked, as he reached out to grab Sola's hand. "Well then _**nehya,**_ I suggest we let Shepard and Tali finish their conversation, and wait for them out in the plaza." Together, the two of them exited the observatory, leaving Shepard and Tali alone once more. That is, until Jack entered.

"What the hell are you waiting for Shepard? You can talk feelings and shit when we get back to the ship. I'm getting sick of this planet."

"There goes our moment of tranquility," Shepard said with a sigh.

"Don't worry. I wanted to see this new ship of yours anyway."

"We'll have to get some of those marines medical attention first. Fortunately Chakwas has plenty of experience treating quarians, what with the amount of times you got shot."

"Oh please, compared to you my wounds were nothing. I'm surprised your bodies not just one big scar yet."

"I'm hurt Tali. How could you insult me so?"

"Just show me the ship you bosh'tet."

"As you wish, your majesty." With that, the two of them stepped out of the observatory, hands intertwined and a smile on their faces.

* * *

><p>-Searching...<p>

-Target acquired. Verifying...

-Target verified. Creator Tali'Zorah and Shepard-Commander located.

-Probability of neutralizing both targets before destruction of platform 0.473%

Query to collective: Which target more desirable?

Command Received: Old Machine plans more important than neutralization of Shepard-Commander. Targeting Creator-Tali'Zorah

-Probability of neutralizing target: 97.286%

-Firing...

* * *

><p>Looking through his scope, Garrus noticed Tali and Shepard exiting the observatory, hands intertwined. "Ha!"<p>

"You got something archangel?" Zaeed asked.

"Wrex owes me 500 credits next time I see him," he told the marine.

"Sounds like a krogan name. What just happened to make a krogan owe you 500 creds?"

"Look at Shepard, then look at Tali," he ordered the mercenary. "Then look where their hands are."

"Takes all kinds to make the galaxy, don't it?" the mercenary said with a laugh.

'I woulda thought he'd have gone with Miranda, what with her being genetically perfect and all, but I guess he saw through that facade. Know a lot of mean who wouldn't, 'specially when she shows interest in them." He paused for a second, considering something. "But when the hell did you make a bet with a krogan on who Shepard would end up with?"

"About three years ago on the original Normandy," Garrus explained. "Right after getting back from Noveria. Wrex said Shepard would end up with Ashley, but... well I'm pretty sure that's not happening."

"After the welcoming she gave him on Horizon? Guddamn right that's not happening. Never seen a woman so blind in my life. Working with a turian, a salarian, a krogan, and a woman who hates Cerberus with everything she's got and she thinks he believes in Cerberus principles? I woulda shot her."

"I'll admit tha- what was that?"

"What was what?" Zaeed asked.

"I saw a faint light, looked a bit like a flashli- oh shit!" He swung his rifle around, aiming the weapon at the light. What he saw chilled his blood. It was definitely geth. That wasn't the problem. The problem was the already-extended sniper rifle it was pointing at his commander's position. "Shepard! Tali! Get down! Geth Sniper!" He frantically adjusted his aim, centering his scopes crosshairs on the machines optics as he pressed down on the trigger.

The resulting shot took the head of the machine right off, the heavy round smashing it apart. He was about to let out a cry of jubilation, when he saw the thermal clip flying through the air. A still smoking thermal clip ejected from the geth's rifle.

The geth had already fired.

* * *

><p><em>Epic cliffhanger, I know. Hate me later. Anyway, bad things are afoot. Will the geth succeed posthumously in its horrendous mission? Stay tuned 'till next chapter to find out!<em>

_Anyway, I've been toying with the idea of possibly making Tali's father survive her loyalty mission. PM me with your thoughts on this and possibly have a role in influencing my decisions. I'd rather you not leave your opinion in a review because I don't want people to have an idea on the outcome until it actually happens._

_Thanks for reading, please review if you can (your feedback makes me write more) and I hope you enjoyed the story. Toxic out._

_Oh, and if you guys didn't notice, I've started using some of Calinstel's idea for khellish words and quarian culture. I tried coming up with my own... but apparently I suck at that. Anyway, definition and source will appear at the bottom of the page and the word in the story will be highlighted._

_**Nehya:** Term of endearment, similar to sweetheart. Literal translation: Interesting one. Used primarily at the beginning of a relationship to signify a desire to know the person on a more personal level, to get to know them better. (Source: To Survive: Alliances)_


	4. Chapter Four: Past and Present Failures

_Gosh, it's been a while hasn't it? I've been busy, life's been screwed up, and things have generally sucked. You might notice that this chapter is quite a bit darker than all the previous? That me rubbing off on it. But don't worry, I think I'm sort of better now. Hopefully updates will roll a bit faster now._

* * *

><p>Tali couldn't hear Garrus' warning; Shepard knew she couldn't. She wasn't tuned to the Normandy's communication network. Why would she have needed to? The battle was supposed to be over, all the geth dead as a program in a communal artificial intelligence network could be. He knew there was no time; no time for her to avoid the bullet that he knew would be streaking towards her visor. Realistically, it could be aimed at either one of them, but deep down, Shepard knew they would target her. The geth were nothing but pawns of the reapers, and the reapers had an unhealthy desire to capture him alive. They would kill her to hurt him, and all parties involved knew that it would be a crippling strike.<p>

Rationally, Shepard knew he couldn't outrun a sniper rifle. However, at that moment, with his bondmate in danger, Shepard's mind was far from rational. With seemingly impossible speed, the vanguard flung himself at Tali's frame, her safety far higher on his list of priorities than his own personal well-being. He heard the piercing crack of a sniper rifle, two of them. He ignored it, focusing all his attention on the startled quarian before him. He felt the impact of his armoured body crashing into his quarian companion, felt the two of them fall to the ground; limbs intertwined once more. It didn't change a thing.

A sickening thud, mixed with a piercing cry, cut through the haze enshrouding his mind. Globules of dark red blood sprayed onto his visor, clouding his vision. Quarian blood. Desperately, he jerked his head downwards, frantically searching for the source of the spray. What he saw chilled him to the core. A large splotch of red sat on the left side of her waist, blood still flowing from the wound. The projectile had torn all the way through, exiting as quickly as it had entered. The irregular rising and falling of her chest relieved him slightly, telling him that she was still alive... for now. He could hear Garrus calling for a medical transport through his comm unit, but ignored it. He had bigger problems.

"Tali," he cried out, desperately hoping she'd be able to respond. _The area was supposed to be clear!_

"Shepard," the quarian replied weakly. "They shot me, didn't they?"

"I... Yeah, they did. But you're going to be okay, all right? I've got medical supplies. I just need to clean the wound up and... and..." he hesitated. That was all he could do. Clean it and apply medi-gel. _What the hell will that do against a wound like this? Wha-_

"Shepard." The sound of Tali's weakening voice interrupted his reverie. "Just do what you can. I'll be fine."

"I... All right."

He hastily popped open the hardcase attached to his right leg, thanking whatever god might have existed that Chakwas had convinced him to use it, and grabbed the few medical supplies he carried. Falling back on his training, he did what he could to clean the wounded area, hastily applying a layer of medi-gel soon after. It was all he could do. The only thing left was to wait.

"Why is it," he asked quietly, looking into the eyes of his wounded quarian partner, "that you need to comfort me when you're the one who's been shot?"

"Because in secret, my indomitable captain is really just a softy... or at least, that's what Garrus says," Tali replied, her voice managing to sound playful even as her body struggled for life.

Shepard couldn't laugh at the comment. Tali was dying in front of him. Any sense of humour he might've had died in the retort of the geth sniper rifle.

"Listen," he began, his voice hoarse. "Chakwas is going to fix you up, I know it, but no matter what happens... I love you."

"I love you too, my hesh'lan," Tali whispered back, grabbing his hand, lightly gripping it with her own.

"Just stay with me," Shepard pleaded quietly.

"I will. I promise."

And so they sat there, unmoving, five fingers intertwined with three as the two lovers waited desperately for the shuttle that would be their salvation.

/\\/\

\/\\/

Shepard stared at her limp form as the shuttle took off, unable to direct his eyes anywhere else. Even now, he could feel her grip on his hands weakening, her luminous eyes dimming. Mordin had injected her with his specialized immunobooster and the salarian claimed that it would keep her stable until he and Chakwas could operate on her in the med bay. Shepard wanted to believe him, wanted to remain optimistic, but with the woman he loved bleeding out in front of him, optimism took a backseat to the many other emotions running through the spectres head.

Tali'Zorah vas Neema was dying in front of him, and despite all his skills, Shepard could do nothing to stop it. Suddenly, he felt a three-fingered talon come to rest on his shoulder. Slowly, he turned his body around to meet the turian gaze of the shuttles only other occupant.

"How did this happen Garrus?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper. "We won. We blew up their ship and took control of the entire area. How did they get her?"

"I don't know Shepard," his turian friend replied. "But it was beyond your control. It wasn't your fault."

"Not my fault?" Shepard hissed, his voice raising. "We were in a hostile environment. I let my guard down and couldn't respond to the attack in time. My carelessness got Tali shot by a goddamn sniper rifle. For a quarian, that could very well be a death sentence!"

"I know what you're going through Shepard," the turian responded. "I know what it's like to lose someone."

"You think you know what it's like to lose someone?" He was shouting now, but he didn't care. Shepard needed a target to vent his fury on. At the moment, he didn't care who that target might be. "You got your fucking team killed. Big fucking deal. We've all lost comrades in war. I've lost them, Tali's lost them, everybody on this fucking ship as lost them. But do you know what it's like to watch the woman you love die right in front of you? To watch the one person who kept your days bright bleed out while you're powerless to stop it? Don't try to comfort me Garrus, because right now, you don't know a fucking thing."

"Shepard, I-"

"Just shut up Garrus," the spectre spat, breathing deeply. "Just shut up." Shepard turned away, maneuvering his body to face Tali's limp form once more. He spent the rest of the shuttle ride sitting next to Tali in silence, unmoving as he prayed for whatever god might exist to preserve her life until Mordin and Chakwas could work their magic. The trip didn't take long.

The Normandy, aware of the situation, was waiting for the shuttles in low orbit. Both shuttles docked simultaneously, and it wasn't long before Shepard felt the dull thump of the kodiak drop shuttle coming to a rest on the cold steel of the hangar bay floor. The door to his shuttle slid open, and Shepard was immediately greeted by a gurney and the Normandy medical team, Chakwas at the group's head.

Without hesitation, the grey haired doctor leapt into action, directing various crewmembers in the necessary procedures. Shepard watched blankly as Tali was carefully placed on the gurney. He knew he'd do more harm than good if he tried to assist. It wasn't until Chakwas and her team rushed the cart to the elevator that Shepard made any move to rise. Slowly, he stood up from his seat, making his way out of the shuttle and into the hangar bay where the rest of his team waited for him. Undeterred, he walked right past them, ignoring the questions and concerns directed his way. He waited the thirty seconds it took for the elevator to make its way back down to the hangar before stepping inside and pressing down on the button indicating deck one.

Eventually the elevator reached its destination, and Shepard stepped out, sluggishly making his way to the bed in the center of his cabin. _It's like Elysium all over again, _he thought, as he fell into the mattresses warm embrace.

It was hours before he succumbed to sleep, fear for Tali's condition refusing to allow the spectre rest. When his body finally gave in... Sleep would not be peaceful. Memories from long ago returned to plague him, eager to remind him of just how he had failed on that human colony so long ago.

/\\/\

\/\\/

A stream of fire leapt from the barrel of his assault rifle, reducing the head of an approaching batarian pirate to mush. Shouts in the distance indicated that the pirates were retreating yet again, regrouping for another assault. With the immediate threat now dealt with, Shepard slumped to the ground, his body exhausted. Twelve hours ago an overwhelming force of batarian pirates had touched down on Elysium, their ships having already bombed the colonies defenses from orbit. Now he was leading a ragtag group of soldiers, militia, and civilians of all races in an attempt to hold out against the unceasing onslaught until Alliance reinforcements could arrive. But he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it up.

Blood leaked from a dozen holes in his armour, the wounds only hastily sealed with medigel. His troops were similarly exhausted, both physically mentally. Many had never fired a weapon prior to a few hours ago and already they had enough combat experience to be mistaken for veterans. Casualties were increasing exponentially and morale was on the verge of collapsing. The streets ran red, blue, and a dozen other colours with the blood of the fallen, and as far as Shepard knew, his group was the last bastion of freedom on the planet.

Sluggishly, he pulled himself back up, preparing to check on the other lines and see how they were faring. If the ever-present staccato of gunfire was anything to go by, they hadn't fallen yet. Purposefully, he strode over to the nearest fireteam, maintaining the facade of strength and confidence that he'd been wearing since the start of this conflict. It was the only thing that kept some of his people going.

"Commander," the gravelly voice of Gamma Team's leader acknowledged.

"Kull," Shepard replied. "How's your team holding up?"

"Good, for a bunch of softies," the krogan proclaimed. "They're even hitting a few things." Kull was a krogan mercenary. He'd surprised Shepard when he showed up at their scarred and beaten gates, volunteering his centuries of experience to help fend off the pirate assault. The battle promised to be a good fight apparently. It wasn't the most noble reason for taking up arms, but given their precarious situation, Shepard was hardly about to complain. Having a krogan warlord fronting the fireteam had increased Gamma's combat efficiency dramatically.

"Glad to hear it," Shepard chuckled, forgetting the gravity of the situation for the briefest of moments. His mirth faded quickly though, replaced by an expression of seriousness. They were in a warzone, with civilians of all races placed in direct harms way. "The Alliance will be here soon," Shepard assured him. "Just keep your guys safe until they get here."

"Don't let them get here too fast. There are still plenty of pirates to ki-" Suddenly, a loud explosion tore through the air, quickly followed by several violent tremors and the angry chatter of nearby gunfire.

_That was from the east! _ "Kull, expect an attack at any moment!" Shepard shouted. "I'll go figure out what that explosion was!" Immediately, the N7 marine sprinted towards the source of the disturbance. It wasn't long before he reached the battle zone. He was quickly bombarded by a cacophony of screaming, gunfire, and desperately shouted orders. The area was a mess, with much of the wall blown in and torn up corpses strewn all about. The upper floors had collapsed, taking away the defenders ability to fire from above. A burnt out track rested where the wall used to be, a female Alliance marine hunkered down behind it.

He slammed into cover beside the familiar soldier, blind firing his rifle over cover as he did so. "Sarah!" he shouted, directing his words at the woman beside him. "What the hell happened?"

"Bastards lit off a fuel truck and drove it right into the wall," Sarah explained. "Next thing I knew the half the building was coming down on top of us. We lost a lot of people on the upper levels... I'm not sure how much longer the rest of us will be able to hold them off." She paused for a moment, tossing a fragmentation grenade towards an approaching group of pirates. The explosive device sailed through the air, before landing several meters short of its target. The explosion detonated harmlessly in front of them.

"Damn," she swore. "If the Alliance doesn't get here soon..."

"They'll be here," Shepard affirmed.

"You sure about that John?" Sarah asked. "I don't wanna doubt out pals in the navy, but it's been quite a while since these guys landed and I haven't seen any let up in the assault,"

Suddenly, an ear splitting screech tore through the air and the whole world went dark.

/\\/\

\/\\/

Miranda Lawson sat in her office, carefully observing the video screen before her. What she saw was shocking, to say the least. Currently, she was viewing the feed from one of her shuttle based surveillance devices. Specifically, the single video/audio capture device planted on Shuttle B, the same shuttle Shepard used on his return from Haestrom.

Never before had she seen the former spectre explode on one of his crewmembers, no matter how stressful the situation. She knew there was something between them, Shepard and the quarian. Indeed, she'd known since they entered that prefab on Freedom's Progress. But even that shouldn't have been enough to break humanity's finest. And to target his closest friend... Something else had to be involved, likely buried within his files.

She quickly typed a message to the Illusive Man, politely requesting that he forward any relevant documents to her immediately. Until they were made available however, she'd have to go reassure Vakarian. It wouldn't do to let a flaring of tempers dampen crew performance. She shut down the monitor and stepped out of her office, striding purposefully to the elevator.

/\\/\

\/\\/

"John!"

He was vaguely aware of someone calling his name. It didn't sound too urgent though. He'd have to get back to them later. Right now he just...

"John!"

Needed to lie down...

"Get up John!"

A little...

"I'll handle this"

Longer...

Suddenly pain flared through his body, the agony radiating from his back, which he just realized, had been smashed into a wall. The smoke he had not realized was in his lungs was blasted out by the impact, and he took several deep gulps of air before glancing around at his surroundings. It wasn't an inspiring sight. If the area had been wrecked earlier, than the scene before him was nothing short of apocalyptic. The building was gone, only a few section of wall and some sparse furnishings remaining. Corpses were strewn about, many in pieces. Their makeshift fortress had been completely obliterated. The only living subjects he could make out were Sarah and Kull, the krogan who, he quickly realized, stall had his body pressed against the wall.

Upon seeing his return to consciousness the krogan dropped him to the floor, directing a quick "Told you I could wake him," at Sarah, who was already on top of him and checking for injuries.

"Wake him?" she cried. "You probably gave him a concussion!"

"He'll be fine," the krogan retorted. "He's already back on his feet."

"On might be a bit of an overstatement," Shepard cut in, drawing the bickering soldiers attention back to him as he staggered upwards. "But that's not important. What happened? The building is gone, and I don't see any of our troops!"

"Pirates got tired of throwing mean at us," Kull explained. "Cowards blew the building from orbit."

"Fortunately for us," Sarah added, "the pirates are about as accurate with a starship as they are with a rifle. We managed to get most of the civvies out through an underground passage in the basement. Unfortunately, the bombardment caved the end in. If the pirates get inside, they'll either be enslaved or slaughtered, makeshift militia or not."

"Damn it," Shepard sighed. "We'll have to hold out up here, buy the Alliance a little more time and keep these bastards from getting into the tunnels."

"You put a lot of faith into your Alliance," Kull stated. "You sure they'll pull through?"

"They have to," Shepard replied. "No matter how many pirates we kill on the ground, it's not going to be enough. Three people can't stop an orbital assault. We need the navy, and if I don't believe they can make it in time... Well there isn't much left to fight for is there?"

The krogan laughed, a low rumble that seemed to shake the very ground he stood upon. "Well if you're that damn sure, then it seems I have no choice but to stand by you," assured him, hefting his shotgun. And if we do all die? Going out with a thousand dead batarians would make a damn good battle song."

The krogans alliance affirmed, Shepard glanced over towards the other member of his party.

"You don't need to ask me John," Sarah reassured him. "Family always sticks together, right?"

/\\/\

\/\\/

A ping from her omni-tool stopped Miranda Lawson in her tracks. Opening the device, she immediately noticed the new message in her inbox. Marked only as "Elysium - Casualty List," the message had been flagged as urgent priority, from the Illusive Man himself. She didn't understand the importance, it was hardly a secret that many had died in the pirate raid on the colony Elysium, but she was never one to doubt the Cerberus head. Stepping back into her office, the Cerberus officer began to read.

* * *

><p><em>So... yeah. We'll continue our history lesson and catch up with Miranda's journey of discovery in the next chapter! Hopefully it's be out at least relatively soon. If it's not out by July 14th though, don't expect it to be about for another two weeks after that. Vacations and all. Still, it should be out before that. But... I'm just letting you all know in advance. I'm still sorting out the mess that was my life, and the futures starting to finally look bright again, so writing isn't as high on my priority list as it might've been before. Thank you all very very much for your patience. Your continued support means the world to me.<em>


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